IGI Logo

India's benchmark indexes, Nifty 50 and Sensex, were muted on Monday, dragged by consumer stocks as lacklustre business updates hinted at weak quarterly results.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index added 0.03% to 21,717.20 points, while the S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.07% to 72,083.20, as of 10:39 a.m. IST.

The blue-chip indexes are likely to consolidate further in the next few sessions as caution prevails after the record-breaking rally in November and December, said Prashant Tapse, senior vice president of research at Mehta Equities.

Consumer stocks lost 1.4%, led by declines in key constituents Marico and Godrej Consumer Products.

Marico said its third-quarter revenue declined on weak, rural demand, while Godrej Consumer highlighted a low single-digit sales drop in their business updates.

Peers Tata Consumer Products , ITC and Britannia Industries were among the top five Nifty 50 losers, shedding between 1.2% and 2.5%.

U.S. inflation, domestic retail inflation, industrial production data and earnings will serve as major market triggers in the near term, said Narendra Solanki of Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers and Saurabh Jain of SMC Global Securities.

State-owned banks dropped 1.4%, with all 12 constituents logging losses.

Macquarie Research expects a deceleration in Indian banks' earnings in fiscal year 2025 from 2024, citing moderating credit growth, declining margins and normalising credit costs.

The brokerage downgraded Bank of Baroda and State Bank of India (SBI) and cut their target prices. Bank of Baroda fell 3.5%, while SBI slipped 0.7%

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation added 1.5% following the "first oil" production from the Krishna Godavari DeepWater Block.

Tata Steel gained 1.5% after posting a 6% year-on-year rise in India crude steel output in the third quarter, its business update showed.

The more domestically-focussed small- and mid-caps were down 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively.