Stock Market: Sensex Sheds 94 Points, Nifty Ends Below 16,600; LIC Sinks 3 Per Cent

Stock update: On the BSE, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Dr Reddy's, Nestle, Larsen & Toubro, HUL, and Axis Bank were the biggest laggards

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index dipped 0.15 per cent, while the BSE Smallcap shed 0.54 per cent.

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Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Monday extended their fall for the second straight session and ended in the red amid volatility. The two indices recouped some of the losses as investors turn cautious ahead of the interest rate decision by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) scheduled on Wednesday.

The 30-share BSE Sensex slipped 94 points to 55,675, while the broader NSE Nifty closed trade at 16,570, down 15 points.

On the BSE, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Dr Reddy's, Nestle, Larsen & Toubro, HUL, and Axis Bank were the biggest laggards.

On the flipside, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, M&M, and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the major gainers.

On specific stock, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country's biggest insurer and largest domestic financial investor, declined 2.86 per cent to settle at Rs 777.40. The stock touched an all-time intraday low of Rs 775.40 on Monday.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index dipped 0.15 per cent, while the BSE Smallcap shed 0.54 per cent.

On NSE, nine out of the 15 sector gauges ended in the negative zone. Sub-indexes Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty underperformed the platform by falling as much as 0.58 per cent and 0.28 per cent, respectively.

The overall market breadth stood negative as 1,431 shares advanced, while 1,966 declined on the BSE.

In the previous session on Friday, the Sensex ended 48 points (0.09 per cent) lower at 55,769 points on Friday. The NSE Nifty dipped 43 points (0.26 per cent) to finish at 16,584 points.

"Indian markets opened in negative following mixed Asian market cues. During the afternoon session, markets trimmed their losses and traded in neutral to marginally in green. Markets continued to trade indecisively ahead of the RBI's monetary policy meet this week," Narendra Solanki, head- equity research (fundamental), Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers, told the PTI.

In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong ended in the green. Bourses in Europe were trading higher during afternoon trade.  Stock markets in the US had ended lower on Friday.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.61 per cent to $120.4 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth a net Rs 3,770.51 crore on Friday, according to stock exchange data.