MUMBAI: The BSE Sensex provisionally fell 0.1 percent on Monday, as investors cashed in profits from a near 14 percent rally in the market over the past two weeks.
The 30-share BSE index provisionally ended down 11.49 points at 15,367.47, with 16 stocks declining.
The 50-share NSE index provisionally closed flat at 4,570.45.
Earlier, the Sensex rose 0.3 percent in morning trade as solid corporate results around the world boosted confidence in Asia, but there were signs of fatigue after the market had run up almost 14 percent over the past two weeks.
Top mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp, leading telecom firm Bharti Airtel and consumer goods maker Hindustan Unilever led the market higher after it fell 0.2 percent in opening deals.
No. 2 lender ICICI Bank rose 0.2 percent to 768.35 rupees after it beat forecasts with a 20.6 percent rise in net profit on Saturday.
But energy giant Reliance Industries, which has the most weight in the main index, shed 4.6 percent to 1,921 rupees after posting a larger-than-expected 11.5 percent fall in net profit, its third straight quarterly decline.
"Reliance is acting as an overhang on the market. The results weren't that good," said S. Ranganathan, head of research at LKP Shares.
Leading vehicle maker Tata Motors fell 1.9 percent to 366.50 rupees ahead of its June quarter earnings, which are expected to show a halving of profit.
No. 1 carmaker Maruti Suzuki eased 0.8 percent to 1,367.30 rupees, after jumping 16.3 percent last week. On Thursday, it posted a 25 percent jump in profit.
At 10:58 a.m. (0528 GMT), the 30-share BSE index was up 0.3 percent at 15,421.53 points, with 23 stocks advancing.
"Excluding Reliance, I think the market is pretty stable. Most of the other companies have posted pretty good results," Ranganathan said.
Of the 15 companies in the 30-share index that have reported results, 12 have beaten analysts estimates, based on Reuters polling.
The benchmark rose 4.3 percent last week, after jumping 9.2 percent in the previous week, as efforts by governments around the world to pump trillions of dollars into corporate rescues and economic stimulus measures appeared to be bearing fruit and spurred a global equities rally.
The BSE index has soared 91 percent from a 2009 low in early March. It is up 59.4 percent this year, the fourth-best performance among major world benchmarks tracked by Reuters, after plunging by more than half in 2008.
This has stoked concerns about rich valuations, which could lead to a near-term correction, traders said.
Housing Development Finance Corp rose 1.2 percent to 2,442 rupees, while Hindustan Unilever advanced 3.2 percent to 291 rupees.
Leading telecoms firm Bharti Airtel, which is in exclusive talks about a possible merger, with South Africa's MTN, climbed 2.5 percent to 426 rupees.
In the broader market, gainers led losers almost 2 to 1 on relatively moderate volume of 112.1 million shares.
The 50-share NSE index was up 0.3 percent at 4,579.80.
Asian shares were higher on Monday, with Japan's Nikkei up 1.7 percent, while MSCI's measure of other Asian markets rose 1.6 percent.
