Indian Shares End Off Day's Lows

(RTTNews) - Indian shares ended Monday's session lower as investors digested weak economic data from the U.S., Japan and China, and kept a close eye on geopolitical developments in the Middle East.

A cautious undertone prevailed as Brent crude prices remained elevated above $89 a barrel after climbing 6 percent last week in the wake of renewed fighting in Lebanon and further tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz.

Overall losses remained capped somewhat due to a weaker dollar in international markets and fading expectations of Federal Reserve rate hike next month following softer U.S. retail sales and consumer sentiment data released on Friday.

The 30-share BSE Sensex ended the session down 281.09 points, or 0.36 percent, at 77,728.16, eclosing off the day's lows as late buying emerged in metal, realty and auto stocks.

The NSE Nifty index dropped 78.35 points, or 0.32 percent, to 24,287.65 while the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes edged up 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.

The market breadth was weak on the BSE, with 2,344 shares falling while 2,099 shares advanced and 231 shares closed unchanged.

IT stocks bore the brunt of the selling, with Tech Mahindra, TCS, HCL Technologies and Infosys falling 2-3 percent on concerns over global currency market volatility after the U.S. dollar slipped towards two-month lows in international markets.

Among the top gainers, Reliance Industries rose 0.8 percent, Axis Bank added 1 percent and Tata Steel advanced 1.5 percent.