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The Sensex and the Nifty edged lower on Tuesday after hitting two-month highs earlier in the session, tracking falls in global markets and as investors booked profits after three consecutive sessions of gains.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex ended lower by 58.09 points or 0.21 per cent at 27,306.83 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty ended down by 13.4 points or 0.16 per cent at 8,261.65.
Domestic sentiment was hit as global markets were mostly lower after commodity prices languished, dampening the risk sentiment.
"Earlier expectation was that second-quarter numbers would be bad but the numbers are not disappointing," said Alex Mathews, head of research at Geojit BNP Paribas.
Bajaj Finance Ltd and Hindustan Zinc Ltd were among companies whose shares gained on Tuesday after reporting their July-September earnings.
Investors are now awaiting earnings from cement maker ACC Ltd and Hero MotoCorp later in the day.
Hopes about earnings continued to drive gains, with Tata Motors up 1.19 per cent. But Reliance Industries ended lower by 0.83 per cent lower after rising 5.6 per cent on Monday.
Among BSE sectoral indices, metal index fell the most by 1.8 per cent, followed by oil & gas 0.72 per cent, realty 0.66 per cent and healthcare 0.33 per cent. On the other hand, power index was up 1.33 per cent, followed by IT 1.00 per cent, TECk 0.75 per cent and consumer durables 0.46 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were TCS (+1.6%), Maruti (+1.22%), Tata Motors (+1.19%), Infosys (+1.18%) and NTPC (+0.39%), while the major losers were VEDL (-6.42%), Tata Steel (-2.96%), Hindalco (-2.37%), M&M (-2.23%) and Cipla (-2.13%).
Brokers' comment
A report by SMC Global said: "Asian equities fell across the board today after commodity prices languished in the wake of China growth woes and dampened risk sentiment, while the euro hovered near a 10-day low ahead of a European Central Bank meeting that could open the door for more monetary easing. Overnight, US stocks edged higher Monday, though a slump in energy shares kept a lid on the gains."
Brokers said that apart from profit-booking in recent gainers, a weak trend in global markets mainly weighed on the market sentiment.
European shares fell on Tuesday, with mining and energy stocks extending losses in the wake of weak data this week from China, the world's second-biggest economy.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, which had opened flat, lost ground to stand 0.6 per cent lower, as did the euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index.
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