The stock market ended lower on Monday as profit booking in banking and information technology stocks pulled benchmark indices into the red. The BSE Sensex dropped 372 points to close at 79,379, while the NSE Nifty50 fell 100 points to settle at 23,944, slipping below the crucial 23,950 mark.
Heavy selling in banking stocks weighed on investor sentiment, with Kotak Mahindra Bank emerging among the top losers after announcing that CEO Ashok Vaswani would not seek another term. Persistent Systems also declined sharply after its proposed acquisition of Germany-based Nagarro raised concerns over the deal’s valuation. Other notable laggards included Axis Bank, HCLTech and Bajaj Finance.
On the positive side, Trent, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Hindalco Industries and UltraTech Cement were among the day’s top gainers, supported by buying in metal and consumer-focused stocks. Gains in these counters, however, were insufficient to offset losses in heavyweight banking and IT shares.
Monday’s decline was largely driven by profit booking following the market’s recent rally. Investors also remained cautious ahead of key global economic data and continued to track foreign institutional investor (FII) activity.
Sector-wise, banking, financial services and information technology indices led the losses, while metals and select infrastructure stocks witnessed buying interest. Broader markets showed mixed performance, with mid-cap and small-cap stocks outperforming benchmark indices in several pockets.
The rupee traded within a narrow range against the US dollar, while crude oil prices remained largely stable, offering little direction to the market.
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