Indian equity benchmarks closed lower on Monday, the first trading session of the week, as heavy selling in banking and financial stocks weighed on market sentiment.
The BSE Sensex declined 442.93 points, or about 0.57%, to close at 77,708.52, while the NSE Nifty fell 95.80 points to settle at 24,238.50.
Markets remained volatile throughout the session. Buying interest in pharmaceutical, metal, energy, and public sector bank stocks helped limit losses to some extent, but sustained pressure in private banking stocks kept the benchmark indices under strain.
The banking sector remained under the most pressure during Monday's trade, with selling in major private bank stocks impacting the benchmark indices. Among the top laggards on the Nifty were Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti Suzuki, and Jio Financial Services.
The decline in these large-cap stocks added pressure on both the Sensex and the Nifty. However, losses were partially offset by buying in select stocks, including Trent, Cipla, Power Grid Corporation, Bharti Airtel, and JSW Steel.
Among sectoral indices, the Nifty PSU Bank Index was one of the best performers, rising about 2.8% during the session. Buying interest was also seen in pharmaceutical, media, energy, metal, oil and gas, infrastructure, FMCG, and consumer durables stocks.
In contrast, the Nifty Private Bank Index declined about 2.2%, making it the weakest-performing sectoral index of the day. Auto and realty stocks also remained under pressure.
Despite weakness in large-cap stocks, investor interest remained firm in the midcap and smallcap segments. The Nifty Midcap 100 Index closed about 0.6% higher, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 Index also ended with modest gains.
The Indian rupee also came under pressure on Monday. At the close of trade, the rupee weakened by 17 paise against the US dollar to settle at 96.45 per dollar, compared with 96.28 per dollar in the previous trading session.
