Indian equity shares edged lower on Monday as state-run lenders fell on disappointment over lack of significant announcements after a two-day banking conclave attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while technology stocks also fell.
The falls snapped a six-day winning streak and marked the indexes' first losing session of the year.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex ended at 27,842.32, down 45.58 points or 0.16 per cent and the 50-share NSE index Nifty ended down by 17.95 points or 0.21 per cent at 8,377.50.
Banking stocks fell after a two-day meeting of public sector banks convened by Modi ended with an announcement that state-owned lenders needed more autonomy but without any details of proposed reforms.
State Bank of India lost 0.8 per cent, while Punjab National Bank ended 0.9 per cent lower.
Technology stocks fell ahead of the quarterly earnings reporting season that kick-starts with Infosys' results on January 9.
Infosys closed down 0.9 per cent, while Tata Consultancy Services ended 1.5 per cent lower.
Sectoral indices
Among BSE sectoral indices, auto index gained the most by 1.14 per cent, followed by consumer durables 1.11 per cent, capital goods 0.73 per cent and realty 0.22 per cent. On the other hand, TECk index was down 1.07 per cent, followed by IT 1.01 per cent, metal 0.45 per cent and healthcare 0.26 per cent.
Gainers, losers
Major gainers wer Maruti 2.68%, Tata Motors 2.46%, L&T 1.65%, Tata Steel 1.57% and ONGC 1.09%, while the top five losers were Bharti Airtel 2.63%, Dr Reddy's 2.34%, Hindalco 1.87%, HDFC 1.29% and SSLT 1.28%.
BSE's market capitalisation once again surged above Rs 100-lakh crore
— K.S. Badri Narayanan (@marketbadri)
January 5, 2015Early trade
The Nifty and the Sensex opened marginally in the green circumspect on negative Asian cues. The Nifty opened 13 points up at 8,408 ,while the Sensex opened 90 points at 27,978.
A report by SMC Investments and Advisors said: "Asian stocks were mixed on the first trading day of the week, following a weak lead from Wall Street, and continued jitters in the oil market. US stocks ended near unchanged on Friday, with the S&P 500 down for a third session, after economic reports showed manufacturing slowing but still in expansion mode at the end of 2014. US construction spending fell 0.3 per cent to an annual rate of $975.0 billion in November from the revised October estimate of $977.7 billion. The drop in construction spending came as a surprise to economists, who had expected spending to increase by about 0.5 per cent."
Ashpk Leyland is up 8%; the company has reported a 48% jump in sales volumes in December
— Rajalakshmi Nirmal (@crajalakshmic)
January 5, 2015Global markets
The euro slumped to a nine-year low on Monday as investors bet that the prospect of inflation across the region turning negative and mounting political uncertainty in Greece will force the European Central Bank to unleash quantitative easing.
European shares were volatile, initially falling sharply before rebounding into positive territory within an hour of the open, as investors digested the implications of the weak euro and yet another hefty slide in oil to a 5-1/2 year low.