BENGALURU, Feb 12 Reuters Indian shares declined on Monday, weighed down by broadbased profit booking, while small and midcaps extended their slide on rising concerns over high valuations.

The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.76 at 21,616.05, while the SP BSE Sensex settled 0.73 lower at 71,072.49.

This is another bout of profit booking and it was always on the anvil, said Siddharth Sedani, head of equity product and advisory support at Anand Rathi Financial Services, adding that the RBI39;s decision to not relax its monetary policy stance also disappointed markets.

Last week, the RBI doused hopes of early rate cuts and projected elevated inflation for fiscal 2025 at its policy meeting.

The broader, moredomestically focussed smallcaps and midcaps declined 4 and 2.5, respectively, extending their underperformance over the Nifty 50 for the second consecutive session.

The risk of significant correction in small and midcaps is steadily growing due to extremely elevated valuations, said G Chokkalingam, founder and head of research at Equinomics Research.

Eleven of the 13 major sectors declined on Monday. The energy index, the thirdheaviest sector, dropped 2.41.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, opens new tab and Tata Power lost 3.61 and 7.75 after posting lacklustre quarterly results.

Financials, the heaviest of the major sectors, fell 1.41.

Public sector banks dropped 4.43, after adding about 6 over the last three sessions, driven by earnings and relative valuation…