A lack of buying at higher levels following two sessions of gains dragged the Indian market modestly lower on Monday. Gains in healthcare, consumer durable, realty and banking stocks were offset by losses in auto and oil/gas shares.
After moving in the range of 18,380-18,200, the benchmark 30-share Sensex ended down 34 points or 0.2 percent at 18,232, while the broader Nifty index closed virtually unchanged at 5,473.
Second-line stocks rose notably, with the BSE mid-cap index rising 0.8 percent and the small-cap index by half a percent. The market breadth remained fairly positive, with gaining shares outpacing declining ones by 1629 to 1150 shares on the BSE.
Mahindra & Mahindra led the declines in the Sensex pack after the company lagged forecasts with a 6.3 rise in quarterly net profit. Shares of the utility vehicles manufacturer ended down 5.3 percent.
Aluminum producer Hindalco Industries fell 2.3 percent on profit taking after rallying nearly 6 percent on Friday. Likewise, state-run oil explorer ONGC lost 1.6 percent after climbing nearly 8 percent in the past two sessions.
Jindal Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Hero Honda Motors were among the other prominent decliners. Cigarette maker ITC dropped 0.8 percent on reports the government will soon notify new pictorial warnings on tobacco products. Reliance Infrastructure reversed initial gains and ended down 0.3 percent on posting tepid FY11 earnings.
Among those that gained, drug maker Cipla climbed 3.6 percent. Reliance Communication jumped 3 percent ahead of its Q4 results later today. DLF added 2.6 percent on reports that it could sell non-core assets like IT parks and hotel business to mop up Rs.7,000 crore in the next two years.
Mortgage lender HDFC gained 1.9 percent and auto maker Bajaj Auto added a percent. TCS rose a percent, extending gains for the third consecutive session, while Infosys eased marginally.
Lanco Infratech fell 1.8 percent after the company posted tepid FY11 earnings and reports suggested the company is considering a bid for Australia's Premier Coal, owned by coal-to-retail conglomerate Wesfarmers.
Patni Computer Systems soared 9 percent on bargain hunting after recent sharp falls. NMDC rose 3.2 percent after the state-run iron ore maker nearly doubled its fourth-quarter net profit. EdServ Softsystems edged up 0.6 percent after its fourth-quarter net profit jumped 86 percent from a year earlier.
Adani Enterprises added a percent and Adani Power edged up marginally after the business conglomerate reportedly made an offer to Coal India to form a joint venture to develop a coal mine it had acquired in Australia. Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries climbed 4.5 percent on posting a better-than-expected 12 percent rise in quarterly net profit.
On the global front, the other Asian markets swung between gains and losses before closing mostly lower Monday, after data showing weak housing sales and lower than estimated consumer spending in the U.S. sparked concerns about slowing growth in the world's largest economy.
Persistent worries about Greece's debt woes, subdued oil and copper prices amid a slightly stronger dollar and a slew of economic data scheduled to be released this week, including a closely-watch jobs report on Friday, also prompted investors to stay on the sidelines.
European stocks were mixed in cautious trading while oil prices were down 44 cents in late Singapore trading on speculation fuel demand may falter amid slowing growth in the U.S. and China. The U.S. and the U.K. markets are closed Monday for public holidays.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.