The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty witnessed some profit booking on Monday despite Asian stock markets gaining on the back of China interest rate cut for a sixth time in less than a year. Sensex closed 108.85 points down at 27,361.96. Nifty closed 34.90 points down at 8,260.55.

In the 50-share index, BHEL, Bajaj Auto, Vedanta, Tata Steel and HCL Technologies gained between 1.40 per cent and 3.45 per cent. On the other hand, Asian Paints, YES Bank, Coal India, HDFC and Ultratech Cement slid between 2 per cent and 4.65 per cent. Disappointment over earnings hit shares of HDFC and Asian Paints.

Among the sectoral indices on the BSE, the BSE Power index gained the most — 0.46 per cent, followed by BSE Capital Goods index (up 0.38 per cent), BSE IT index (up 0.24 per cent), BSE Auto index (up 0.14 per cent), while the BSE Oil & Gas index and BSE Consumer Durables index slid 0.95 per cent and 0.87 per cent, respectively.

Shreyash Devalkar, fund manager, equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund, said, “Indian markets traded lower on Monday, following four consecutive weeks of positive trading, after key indices hit their highest intra-day levels since 20 August, 2015 last week. Profit booking set the tone of the market with banking and energy stocks bearing the brunt of the bears.”

Overall market breadth for the day remained negative as advances to declines ratio for Nifty stood at 23:27 for the day.

Tomorrow companies like Dish TV, Vedanta, Lupin, Nucleus, TVS Motor, Thermax, Tata Communications, Ceat, Polymed, Axis Bank, Shasun Pharma, Maruti, Navin fluro, Coromandel and KPR Mill may come out their earnings.

On the global front, Chinese Central Bank cut key interest rates by 25 basis points late on Friday. The move marks the sixth time since November the Chinese ace bank has cut interest rates and the fourth time when the reduction has been across different amounts of deposits banks are required to hold as reserve. The measure could be attributed towards the downward pressure the economy is facing, and would help reducing the dire expectations with respect to the economy.

Asian peer markets posted mixed bag of performance with Nikkei 225 and Shanghai closed 0.65 per cent and 0.50 per cent up at 18,947 and 3,430 while Hang Seng closed 0.15 per cent down at 23,116.

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Markets through the day

3.30 pm: Domestic equity markets suffered some profit booking on Monday despite making a good start, Sensex and Nifty struggled amid profit-taking on higher levels and both the benchmarks came off from over two-month highs hit in the previous session. Sensex closed 108.85 points down at 27,361.96 while Nifty closed 34.90 points down at 8,260.55.

3.01 pm: Asian Paints shares fell 5 per cent after the company reported quarterly results on Friday that missed analysts’ estimates. Sensex was down 111.51 points at 27,359. Nifty was down 40 points at 8,258.30.

2.39 pm: Investment through Participatory Notes (P-Notes) into India’s capital market grew to Rs 2.54 lakh crore (about USD 39 billion) at the end of September, from the previous month.

2.28 pm: Share price of HDFC declined over 1 per cent after the company announced its earnings for the second quarter ended September 30, 2015. HDFC reported 2 per cent jump in its consolidated net profit figures for the quarter ended September 30, 2015. During July-September 2015, the lender posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,106.51 crore against Rs 2,064.36 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Sensex was down 66 points at 27,404. Nifty was down 24.70 points at 8,270.75.

1.45 pm: Sterlite Technologies share price fell 6.09 per cent at Rs 94.00 after its standalone net profit more than doubled to Rs 29.39 crore for the quarter ended September 30. Sensex was trading 12.14 points down at 27,458.67. Nifty was down 9.50 points at 8,285.95.

1.20 pm: Force Motors shares gained as much as 7.5 per cent on Monday after the company on Saturday registered 65 per cent rise in bottomline figures for the second quarter ended September 30, 2015.

1.02 pm: Sensex was down 72 points at 27,398. Nifty was down 22.10 points at 8,273. Share price of Eros International Media declined 19.38 per cent to Rs 353.20. The scrip fell after a 16 per cent crash in shares of its New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)-listed holding company Eros International Plc, which distributes Indian-made films. The share price of Eross Internatioanl Plc slid 16.6 per cent to $14.65 on Friday on NYSE.

12.29 pm: Maruti Suzuki shares gained around 1.5 per cent after the company launched Baleno in  India on Monday at a starting price of Rs 4.99 lakh for petrol version. The BSE Auto index was up 0.36 per cent at 18,472.68.

11.57 am: Meanwhile, a provisional data showed that foreign portfolio investors bought shares worth Rs 229.18 crore on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei share average rose to a fresh two-month high on Monday after China’s rate cut lifted risk appetites, while bellwethers Hitachi Ltd  and Panasonic Corp surged on stronger profit expectations.

11.45 am: The benchmark BSE Sensex slipped from its early gains and was trading lower by 11.28 points down on profit- booking in blue-chips of realty, oil & gas, metal, bank, healthcare and teck sectors despite firm Asian cues. Karthik Rangappa, vice president, education and research, Zerodha, said, “Volatility is on the higher side considering Bihar elections and F&O expiry are nearing. Traders should avoid taking aggressive bets especially with Options buying as we are now just 4 days away from F&O expiry. It is advisable for traders with long in the money options to book profits before expiry as the profitability of such positions decreases due to the impact of STT, provided you let them expire.”

11.13 am: The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty slipped into red in the later morning trade. Sensex was down 42 points at 27,428. Nifty was down 20.90 points at 8,274. Shares of Bharti Airtel were trading 2.29 per cent down at Rs 350.55.

10.49 am: Sensex was up 17 points at 27,488. Nifty was down 3.85 points at 8,291.60. In the 50-share index, BHEL, Bajaj Auto and HCL Tech were trading 2.21 per cent, 2.16 per cent and 1.35 per cent up at Rs 214.60, Rs 2,569 and Rs 864.

9.57 am: Among major gainers, Larsen and Toubro, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, Hindalco, Hero MotoCorp and ICICI Bank rose up to 1.5 per cent.

9.32 am: The rupee depreciated by 16 paise to 64.99 against the US currency in early trade on Monday due to strong demand for the dollar from importers. Sensex was up 96 points at 27,566.

The BSE Sensex and Nifty opened on a positive note on Monday tracking firm global cues. Sensex opened 104.23 points up at 27,575.04. Nifty opened 38.20 points up at 8,333.65.

Bharti Airtel announced its Q2 results on Monday before market hours. Bharti Airtel Ltd, India’s top mobile carrier by subscribers, posted a 10 per cent rise in quarterly net profit that beat estimates, helped by a surge in data usage by customers. The telecom major reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,522.70 crore against Rs 1,383.2 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Bharti Airtel reported a fall of 54.96 per cent yoy at Rs 2,223.7 crore in its standalone net profit. Share price of Bharti Airtel was up around 1.6 per cent in the early trade.

Analysts on average expected Bharti Airtel to post a net profit of Rs 1,150 crore, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Sensex and Nifty gained 183.15 points and 43.75 points at 27,470.81 and 8,295.45 on Friday.

(With inputs from agencies)