The Sensex and Nifty ended marginally lower as investors largely kept to the sidelines following a disappointing start to the earnings season last week after Infosys Ltd issued a lower-than-expected revenue guidance.
Also, weak global cues due to rising geopolitical woes dampened the domestic sentiment.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex ended lower by 47.79 points or 0.16 per cent at 29,413.66 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty closed down 11.35 points or 0.12 per cent at 9,139.45.
Among BSE sectoral indices, metal index was down 1.09 per cent, followed by power 0.61 per cent, TECk 0.53 per cent and PSU 0.51 per cent. On the other hand, realty index was the star-performer and was up 8.82 per cent, oil & gas 0.81 per cent, consumer durables 0.25 per cent and capital goods 0.09 per cent.
Realty index was the star-performer as Indiabulls Real Estate jumped to over 6-year high on restructuring plans.
Top five Sensex gainers were GAIL (+3.64%), Reliance (+1.95%), Power Grid (+1.3%), Dr Reddy's (+0.72%) and Bajaj Auto (+0.55%), while the major losers were NTPC (-3.31%), Sun Pharma (-2.18%), Asian Paints (-1.81%), Coal India (-1.77%) and ONGC (-1.08%).
Shares of Infosys, the country's second-biggest software services exporter, were down 0.7 per cent after falling 3.87 per cent on Thursday. Markets were closed on Friday for a public holiday.
The weak guidance raised concerns about earnings, with Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Yes Bank Ltd, and HDFC Bank Ltd due to report this week.
“With the earnings season having just begun, markets need to see some kind of confirmation that growth will come,” said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice-president of research at SMC Global Securities.
“Broadly, markets are consolidating and are finding it difficult to sustain fresh highs, and profit-booking is coming in.”
Global shares dipped as soft US economic data hurt investor sentiment already frayed by worries over North Korea and upcoming French elections.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.2 per cent in holiday-thinned trade, while Japan's Nikkei shed 0.4 per cent.