Benchmark equity indices extended their losses for the third session in a holiday-shortened week on Monday on heavy selling in realty, consumer durables, metal and auto counters amid weak global cues as political uncertainties in the U.S. dampened sentiment.

After rising briefly to 35,910.67 at the outset, the 30-share quickly slipped into the negative terrain following a weak trend at other Asian markets and touched a low of 35,423.24 before ending at 35,470.15, down by 271.92 points, or 0.76%.

The gauge had plunged 572.04 points Friday.

Also, the broader NSE Nifty, after shuttling between 10,649.25 and 10,782.30 points, finally settled 90.50 points, or 0.84% lower at 10,663.50.

Stock exchanges will remain closed Tuesday on account of Christmas.

“Negative global cues amid U.S. government shutdown and reports of U.S. Fed chairman being fired weighed on Indian markets,” said Essel Mutual Fund CIO Viral Berawala.

According to analysts, profit-booking extended during the session following mixed cues from global markets on concerns over weakening global growth.

However, strengthening rupee and falling crude prices will continue to support domestic macros as indicated by positive foreign institutional investor (FII) flows.

On a net basis, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth ₹488.55 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth ₹134.14 crore on Friday, provisional data showed.

Global equities were subdued as a partial U.S. government shutdown was set to stretch through Christmas, after Congress adjourned for the weekend with no deal in sight to end an impasse over funding for President Donald Trump’s wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

As we enter futures and options (F&O) expiry week, movement in crude oil prices and currency, and any developments in ongoing winter session of Parliament will influence the trend of the market, said Hemang Jani, Head - Advisory, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

Among the laggard, shares of Hero MotoCorp suffered the most on Sensex by falling 4.27%, followed by Bajaj Auto shedding 3.11%.

Other losers were NTPC down 2.55%, HDFC 2.44%, Vedanta 2.15%, Asian Paints 2.13%, Tata Motors 2.05%, HCL Tech 2.01%, HDFC Bank 1.33%, Bajaj Finance 1.28%, Coal India 1.19%, PowerGrid 1.12%, Tata Steel 1.10%.

L&T, IndusInd Bank, HUL, RIL, ONGC, Yes Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank and ITC too fell by up to 1.08%.

Bucking the trend, stocks such as M&M, TCS, Kotak Bank, Infosys, Bharti Airtel and SBI ended in the positive zone with gains of up to 1.03%

Shares of state-run oil marketing companies like IOC, BPCL and BPCL, fell up to 3.33% due to fresh rise in crude prices.

Brent crude, the oil prices international benchmark, rose 1.04% to $54.66 a barrel Monday.

There was some sector-specific action as GST Council meeting changed tax slabs of 33 items like movie tickets, he said, adding that midcaps saw significantly deeper cuts than largecaps.

Sector-wise, the BSE realty index emerged as the biggest loser by falling 2.29%, metal dropped 2.16%, consumer durables 1.67%, auto 1.38%, power 1.05%, oil and gas 1.06%, capital goods 0.97%, PSU 0.69%, FMCG 0.63%, healthcare 0.34% and bankex 0.33%.

The broader smallcap index and midcap indices too fell up to 1.14% as investors booked profits.

In contrast, information technology, teck and telecom indices ended higher by up to 0.50%.

The GST Council Saturday reduced tax rates on 23 goods and services, including movie tickets, TV and monitor screens and power banks, and exempted frozen and preserved vegetables from the levy.

The reduced rates are likely to come into effect from January 1, 2019, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters after the 31st meeting of Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council here.

Globally, in the Asian region stocks slid in Hong Kong and South Korea, while shares rose in China and Australia.

Hang Seng fell 0.62%, Kospi shed 0.31%, while Taiwan Capitalization Weighted Stock Index shed 0.07%. Markets in Japan remained closed for a holiday. Shanghai Composite Index, however, was up 0.43%.

In Europe, Paris CAC fell 0.78%, while Frankfurt’s DAX rose 0.21%. London’s FTSE fell 0.52%.