Stock markets close lower on profit-taking after recent rally; Sensex drops 119 pts

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex dropped nearly 119 points while Nifty snapped its eight-day winning run in a highly volatile trade on Monday due to profit-taking in IT and auto shares after a recent rally. Ending its five-day rally, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 118.96 points or 0.15 per cent to settle at 81,785.74. During the day, it hit a high of 81,998.51 and a low of 81,744.70. The 50-share NSE Nifty settled lower by 44.80 points or 0.18 per cent to 25,069.20, halting its eight days of uptrend. Investors stayed on the sidelines as markets await the outcome of this week's US Federal Reserve policy meeting, analysts said. Among Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, Asian Paints, Infosys, Titan, Sun Pharma, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra and Power Grid were the major laggards.

However, Bajaj Finance, Eternal, UltraTech Cement and Reliance Industries were among the gainers. "Benchmark indices traded largely flat as investors remained cautious ahead of the Fed policy meeting, with the IT index witnessing profit-booking after last week’s rally. While a 25-bps rate cut is largely factored in, markets await guidance on the future rate path to gauge the trajectory for bond yields. "Strong domestic consumption continues to underpin sentiment and limit downside, while renewed optimism around trade deals and an expected earnings recovery in H2FY26 are further supporting investor confidence," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said. In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi and Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled in positive territory while Shanghai's SSE Composite index ended lower. Japan's stock market was closed for a holiday.

Markets in Europe were trading mostly higher. US markets ended on a mixed note on Friday. On Friday, the Sensex jumped 355.97 points or 0.44 per cent to settle at 81,904.70, rallying for the fifth day in a row. The Nifty rallied 108.50 points or 0.43 per cent to 25,114, registering its 8th straight day of uptrend. Last week, the BSE benchmark jumped 1,193.94 points or 1.47 per cent, and the Nifty climbed 373 points or 1.50 per cent. In eight trading days, the Nifty has jumped 534.4 points or 2.17 per cent. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.48 per cent to USD 67.31 a barrel. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 129.58 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.