The benchmark indices fell a percent on Monday, for the third consecutive session dragged by heavyweight Reliance Industries, which fell 5.5 percent after it missed estimates for the December quarter results. Losses in IT, auto and FMCG sectors also weighed on the sentiment.

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The sentiment was also lower on the back of geopolitical tensions between India and China. sources said that soldiers of the Indian Army and China's People's Liberation Army clashed at the Balwan area in Naku La Pass, Sikkim, three days ago.

The Sensex ended 531 points lower at 48,347 while the Nifty lost 133 points to settle at 14,239. Broader markets were also lower with the midcap and smallcap indices down around 1 percent each.

"Indian markets witnessed a highly volatile trade and closed in red due to weak global market and reports of Indo-China border tension. The downside was equally contributed by all the sectors except pharma which traded in the green. Policy decisions of the US Fed meeting which will commence tomorrow will drive the global market in the coming days. We have seen Indian markets being highly volatile these days and this trend is expected to continue this week as we inch closer to the Union Budget," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

On the Nifty50 index, Grasim, UPL, Cipla, Hero Moto, and Axis Bank were the top gainers while Reliance, IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech, Tata Motors, and Eicher Motors led the losses.

Among sectors, the IT index fell the most, down nearly 2 percent while Nifty Auto and Nifty FMCG also lost over half a percent each. However, the pharma index was up over 1.5 percent and the banking index also ended the day in the green.

RIL shares fell 5.5 percent after the firm's December-quarter earnings missed analysts' estimates. Reliance Industries’ Q3FY21 consolidated business EBITDA was down 5 percent year-on-year, missing estimates.

Shares of Grasim Industries rallied over 7 percent after the company announced its plan to foray into the paint business.

(Edited by : Pranati Deva)

First Published:Jan 25, 2021 3:35 PM IST