Twenty eight stocks on the 50-scrip Nifty index closed in the negative zone The BSE Sensex rose 20 points to close at 35,556 on Monday amid cautious trade, a day ahead of Karnataka election results.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) benchmark index Nifty settled at 10,806, nearly unchanged from its previous close.
The stock markets had started Monday's session on a positive note, but gave up those gains amid a selloff witnessed in auto, consumer durables, capital goods and realty stocks.
The Karnataka election results will be announced on Tuesday, May 15.
Losses in the domestic stock markets came despite gains witnessed across other Asian markets, where equities held near one-month highs.
Here are 10 things to know about Monday's trading session:Twenty eight stocks on the 50-scrip Nifty index closed in the negative zone.Top laggards on the Nifty 50 were NTPC, BPCL, IndusInd Bank and Dr Reddy's Laboratories, settling with losses of around 1-2 per cent each.Auto stock declined, with the NSE's sectoral index - Nifty Auto - ending 0.9 per cent lower.Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland and Mahindra Mahindra fell around 2 per cent each.
Eicher Motors and TVS Motor dropped 1 per cent.
Maruti Suzuki India closed 0.5 per cent lower.Shares in state-run oil marketing company Indian Oil Corporation - the country's largest fuel retailer - rose 1.2 per cent.Petrol and diesel priced were hiked on Monday, after a gap of 19 days."We believe the outcome of the elections will only have a limited impact on our markets.
The long term mover of the markets is the growth in our economy and the ever improving demographics," said VK Sharma, head private client group and capital market strategy at HDFC Securities.Annual wholesale price inflation accelerated in April, helped by higher fuel and food product prices, government data showed on Monday.Annual wholesale price inflation last month rose to 3.18 per cent from a year earlier, higher than a 2.47 per cent rise in March, and an increase of 2.86 per cent forecast by economists in a Reuters poll.Industrial output growth fell to a five-month low of 4.4 per cent in March due to a decline in capital goods production and deceleration in mining activity and power generation, according to official data released post-market hours on Friday.The rupee fell to fresh 15-month low against the US dollar, breaching the key level of 67.50.(With agency inputs)For the latest Election Results Live Updates from Karnataka log on to TheIndianSubcontinent.com.
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