The Sensex and Nifty erased their initial gains and were trading marginally lower due to heavy selling in healthcare, FMCG, auto and capital goods stocks amid firm global cues. However, realty, TECk, IT and oil & gas stocks remained investors' favourite.
At 1.05 p.m., the 30-share BSE index Sensex was down 40.81 points or 0.13 per cent at 32,349.15 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 9.25 points or 0.09 per cent at 10,137.30.
Among BSE sectoral indices, realty index gained the most by 1.11 per cent, followed by TECk 0.98 per cent, IT 0.56 per cent and oil & gas 0.4 per cent. On the other hand, healthcare index fell 0.91 per cent, FMCG 0.85 per cent, auto 0.55 per cent and capital goods 0.37 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were Bharti Airtel (+5.2%), ICICI Bank (+2.07%), Reliance (+1.81%), Hero MotoCorp (+1.39%) and Coal India (+1.31%), while the major losers were Cipla (-2.67%), HDFC (-1.91%), Axis Bank (-1.87%), Lupin (-1.8%) and M&M (-1.78%).
Financial stocks capped the gains on indexes after a rise in bad loans at Axis Bank Ltd last week sparked concerns over recovery of stressed assets. Axis Bank was down 1.8 per cent and Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd was trading 1.2 per cent lower.
Indian markets hit fresh highs last week and analysts think upcoming corporate earnings will have an impact on the short-term trend. Infosys Ltd and Hindustan Unilever Ltd will report results on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
“Overall global sentiment is good and the Japanese yen has weakened,” said Anita Gandhi, whole-time director at Arihant Capital Markets.
“Things this week will also depend on the results.”
As per provisional data released by stock exchanges, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 43.74 crore last Thursday. Domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 40.78 crore.
Asian share markets could get a tailwind from Wall Street's record finish on Friday when the passage of a US Senate budget resolution bolstered hopes that President Trump's tax-cut plan may move forward.
The Dow had ended Friday's session with gains of 0.71 per cent, while the S&P 500 rose 0.51 per cent and the Nasdaq 0.36 per cent. Early Monday, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was a whisker firmer while South Korea put on 0.3 per cent.
A firmer dollar nudged gold down 0.4 per cent to $1,275.07 an ounce. Oil prices started firmer on Monday following a sharp decline in Iraqi crude exports due to tensions in the Kurdistan region. Brent crude rose 16 cents to $57.91 a barrel, while US crude futures added 28 cents to $52.12.