Indian shares ended down by nearly 0.2 per cent in a choppy session, led by declines in domestic oriented stocks on worries that the remaining January-March quarterly earnings may not meet market expectations, while lower Asian stocks also weighed on the sentiment.

January-March would mark the fourth straight quarter of disappointing results with low signs of on-the-ground revival in the economy since the election of Narendra Modi as Indian Prime Minister in May 2014.

Investment bank Credit Suisse on Tuesday cut the NSE index earning estimates for FY16 and FY17 by 2 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively, citing January-March quarterly earnings so far.

Attractive short-term valuations after more than 10 per cent fall from record highs in March, may still lead to tactical bounce, investors said.

"Earning need to follow up in the long run but markets can easily bounce 5 per cent from here as they are oversold and the worries on taxes are well discounted," said G. Chokkalingam, founder of Equinomics, a Mumbai-based research and fund advisory firm.

The 30-share BSE index Sensex ended lower by 50.45 points or 0.18 per cent at 27,440.14 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 11.25 points or 0.14 per cent at 8,320.70.

Sectoral indices

Among BSE sectoral indices, metal index was the star-performer and was up 2.86 per cent, followed by oil & gas 0.95 per cent, realty 0.93 per cent and healthcare 0.52 per cent. On the other hand, power index was down 0.84 per cent, followed by consumer durables 0.6 per cent, infrastructure 0.42 per cent and TECk 0.25 per cent.

Gainers, losers

Top five Sensex gainers were SSLT 6.64%, Tata Steel 4.95%, Hindalco 4.65%, ONGC 4.35% and HUL 2.19%, while the major losers were M&M 2.27%, HDFC 1.88%, SBIN 1.86%, Cipla 1.71% and Bajaj Auto 1.45%.

Early trade

Extending gains for the second day, the benchmark BSE Sensex today rose 113 points in early trade on increased by investors in some stocks amid a firm trend overseas.

The 30-share index gained 113.12 points or 0.41 per cent to 27,603.71 with realty, IT, healthcare, oil & gas, auto and consumer durables sector stocks leading the rise.

The index had gained 479.28 points in the previous session following the passage of Finance Bill, 2015 and government’s clarification on MAT.

Also, the NSE Nifty advanced by 12.10 points or 0.14 per cent to 8,344.05.

European markets

Shares of Swiss bank UBS were the top performers in Europe on Tuesday, rising on the back of its highest quarterly profit in nearly five years, as gains for non-euro zone shares helped European stocks into positive territory.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.5 per cent at 0756 GMT, though euro zone indexes in Germany, Italy and Spain were flat to 0.2 per cent lower.

Asian markets

Asian stock markets retreated on Tuesday and the Australian dollar stumbled after the central bank cut interest rates for the second time in four months as the region’s growth falters in the face of slowing demand from China.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has cut its cash rate a quarter point to an all-time low of 2.0 per cent to buttress the economy against slowing mining investment and push the stubbornly strong local dollar lower, in line with market expectations.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan extended losses and was down 0.5 per cent.

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