The Sensex and the Nifty ended the session marginally in the red on Monday due to profit-taking by funds and retail investors amid a weak trend in the global markets.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex was down 26.83 points (0.14 per cent) at 18,891.69 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 18.55 points (0.32 per cent) at 5,701.15.
Except Banking, all other BSE sectoral indices were trading in the red. Among them, Metal index was down 2.54 per cent, followed by Realty 2.25 per cent and Consumer Durables 2.15 per cent. On the other hand, Banking index was up 0.27 per cent.
European and Asian stocks were down after China tightened its mortgage rules to cool its residential property market.
The Chinese Government has announced fresh measures to take the heat out of the nation’s property sector, including higher down-payments and mortgage rates.
Also, the global sentiment was dampened as US lawmakers failed to prevent the imposition of $85 billion in spending cuts that kicked in at the end of last week.