Indian shares ended nearly flat on Monday, after hitting record highs earlier in the session, as blue chips such as Bharti Airtel Ltd fell on profit-taking, though Tata Motors Ltd rallied on strong earnings expectations. The BSE index rose 0.14 percent, ending at a record close of 33,731.19, having hit an intraday record earlier in the session.
The broader NSE index, which climbed to an all-time high of 10,490.45 in the session, ended 0.01 percent lower at 10,451.80. Tata Motors, which is due to report quarterly results on Thursday, surged as much as 4.5 percent during the session to a three-month high. Sentiment was also muted across Asia, as the US dollar staged a broad-based rally, while oil jumped to a more than two-year peak as Saudi Arabia's crown prince cemented his power through an anti-corruption crackdown.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.7 percent. "The markets are seeing some sort of correction, and a bit of profit-booking, which was natural following record highs last week," said Sudhakar Pattabiraman, head of research operations at MarketSmith, which is part of financial services provider William O'Neil. Bharti Airtel Ltd dropped 1.2 percent, after surging 11.5 percent last week on better-than-expected quarterly results. Shares of Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd was down 0.2 percent, ending a seven-straight session of gains.
Among gainers, jewellery retailer Titan Company Ltd surged nearly 25 percent to hit a record high after posting a 71 percent jump in September-quarter profit. Union Bank of India Ltd rose as much as 6.1 percent despite posting a surprise second-quarter loss last week, as investors welcomed improvements in asset quality trends. Meanwhile, mutual fund manager Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Ltd saw a strong market debut, with shares surging as much as 18.65 percent. Assets under management of mutual funds have hit record highs this year helped by a bull market.