Indian shares ended marginally lower on Monday following weaker US markets last week after the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates steady at record lows sparked worries about global growth.
The BSE Sensex ended at 26,192.98, down 25.93 points, after hovering in a range of 26,233.46 and 25,972.54. Similarly, the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 4.8 points at 7,977.10.
Among BSE sectoral indices, FMCG index was down 0.76 per cent, followed by oil & gas 0.27 per cent, consumer durables 0.19 per cent and metal 0.08 per cent. On the other hand, infrastructure index was up 1.36 per cent, followed by power 1.08 per cent, banking 0.8 per cent and PSU 0.78 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were Maruti (+2.64%), Hindalco (+2.43%), Axis Bank (+2.05%), SBIN (+1.16%) and GAIL (+0.99%), while the major losers were Reliance (-1.94%), M&M (-1.43%), ITC (-1.32%), Bharti Airtel (-1.14%) and Dr Reddy's (-1.11%).
World stocks began the week in the red on Monday as the uncertainty created by last week’s latest postponement of the Federal Reserve’s rate hike and continued jitters over China and emerging markets dampened sentiment.
Most of Asia’s damage was done by 1.5-2 per cent falls in Australia, Korea and Malaysia, and Europe also struggled to maintain what had looked to have been a brighter start to the day.
Business confidence data from China and the euro zone will offer some pointers this week to where the global economy is headed after the Fed kept markets guessing about when it will begin raising rates.
"Investors will find a reason to explain a consolidation or a rise in the market, till we get credible domestic data," G. Chokkalingam, founder of Equinomics, a Mumbai-based research and fund advisory firm said.
"The moment you see some comfort on the industrial economy, like industrial output consistently moving above 4.5 per cent, some corporate earnings upside, till that time this confusion will go on."
Sageraj Bariya of East India Securities said: "Equity markets got a reality check on Fed's decision to not hike rates as Investors turned jittery about Fed's worry on global economy and market volatility. US markets fell 1.5% and European markets were down 3%. India saw a pretty strong move in equity, currency & bonds as investors are betting on a rate cut later this month. However some reversal is likely today in wake of weakness in global markets as Asian markets are also trading weak. We believe that the consolidation in Indian equities would continue for some more time until the upcoming events pass by - RBI Credit Policy, September quarter results & Bihar elections and the outcome of these events would set the future course for the markets. We continue to be positive on Indian equities and recommend to buy into every weakness."
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net bought shares worth Rs 643.51 crore last Friday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.