Buy or sell stocks, Aug. 18 -- The Indian stock market benchmarks, the Sensex and Nifty 50, ended lower on Monday, August 17, as investors maintained a cautious approach and continued to favour selective sectors and stocks amid better-than-expected Q1FY27 earnings and ongoing geopolitical uncertainties.

The Sensex declined 281 points, or 0.36%, to close at 77,728.16, while the Nifty 50 ended at 24,287.65, down 78 points, or 0.32%. Meanwhile, mid- and small-cap stocks outperformed the benchmark indices, with the Nifty Midcap 100 gaining 0.05% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 0.36%.

Nifty opened on a weak note and remained under pressure in the initial part of the session, touching a low of 24,226.95. Buying at lower levels helped the in...