Equity benchmarks on correction path, fall for second day in a row

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower on Monday, extending corrections from their all-time highs for the second session in a row due to massive selling in heavyweight stocks.

Foreign fund outflows and surging crude oil prices also weighed on equity markets even as traders were awaiting the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision to be announced this week.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 299.48 points or 0.45 per cent to settle at 66,384.78. During the day, it touched the intra-day peak of 66,808.56 and hit the lowest level of 66,808.56.

The NSE Nifty fell by 72.65 points or 0.37 per cent to end at 19,672.35. The broader index moved between the range of 19,782.75 and 19,658.30.

Both the indices had settled more than 1 per cent lower in the previous session on Friday, snapping their six-day record-breaking rally.

The BSE benchmark tumbled 887.64 points or 1.31 per cent to settle at 66,684.26 on Friday. NSE Nifty fell by 234.15 points or 1.17 per cent to end at 19,745.

On Monday, 18 of the 30-stock Sensex closed the session in green while on the 50-stock index Nifty, 25 stocks ended the trading with gains.

From the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, PowerGrid and Bajaj Finserve gained up to 2.01 per cent.

On the other hand, bellwether stocks such as ITC, Kotak Mahindra, Tech Mahindra and Reliance were the laggards. ITC shares closed the session with a loss of 3.87 per cent lower and Reliance ended 1.92 per cent lower.

Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets were mixed with Nikkei gaining 1.23 per cent, while Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite declined by 2.13 per cent and 0.11 per cent, respectively.

Europe markets were also trading mixed. German benchmark DAX was up 0.08 per cent while London's FTSE 100 gained 0.06 per cent. The CAC 40 of France was off 0.18 per cent.

The US markets ended higher on Friday with S&P 500 gaining 0.03 per cent.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.73 per cent higher at USD 81.66 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were sellers on Friday as they offloaded equities worth Rs 1,998.77 crore, according to exchange data.