Indian stock markets ended Monday's trading session in red, with both benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty settling in the negative territory. The BSE Sensex closed the day under 81,800, crashing over 100 points, while the NSE Nifty50 ended a little under 25,100, falling around 50 points.

On the 30-share Sensex, Bajaj Finance, Eternal, UltraTech Cement, Reliance, and L&T emerged among the gainers. Meanwhile, the laggards included Asian Paints, M&M, Titan, Infosys, and Sun Pharma.

In the broader markets, the Nifty Microcap250 dominated with gains of 0.76 per cent. Sectorally, the Realty index led in green after it soared more than 2 per cent. On the other hand, the Pharma index painted red as it tanked 0.64 per cent.

The markets witnessed a choppy start today morning, however, the indices remained nearly flat. This was due to growing optimism of a rate cut this week from the US Federal Reserve. Further, cooling inflation added to investor optimism. Government data on Monday showed retail inflation eased to 2.07 per cent in August, significantly below the RBI’s projection of 3.1 per cent.

Analysts noted that Indian equities, which have trailed global peers in recent months, now appear attractively priced. Supportive factors include the recent momentum from GST reforms, expectations of Fed easing, and improving US–India trade relations. The Nifty has now confirmed a “higher tops and higher bottoms” formation on weekly charts, signalling the possibility of a sustained bullish trend. “Nifty seems to be heading towards the next resistance of 25,250, while the 24,900 level could offer support,” said Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research at HDFC Securities.

Notably, the Sensex soared 1.47 per cent last week, while the Nifty jumped 1.5 per cent. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased Indian equities worth Rs 129.58 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.