Indian shares extended losses on Tuesday, falling to fresh 1-1/2-year lows as risk aversion ahead of a slew of corporate results, including from Tata Consultancy Services, weighed on domestic sentiment.
Caution also prevailed ahead of data later in the day which is expected to show consumer inflation edged up to an annualised 5.6 per cent, which would likely prevent the central bank for cutting interest rates further for now.
The BSE Sensex ended lower by 143.01 points or 0.58 per cent at 24,682.03, its lowest close since May 30, 2014.
Similarly, the 50-share NSE index Nifty ended down by 53.55 points or 0.7 per cent at 7,510.30, its lowest close since July 14, 2014.
Among BSE sectoral indices, banking index fell the most by 1.76 per cent, followed by realty 1.51 per cent, infrastructure 0.95 per cent and metal 0.92 per cent. On the other hand, consumer durables index was up 0.14 per cent and healthcare 0.07 per cent.
TCS, India's largest company by market capitalisation, fell 1.65 per cent ahead of reporting quarterly results later in the day. Smaller rival Infosys Ltd, which will report quarterly results on Wednesday, fell about 0.67 per cent.
Among other decliners, bank stocks were deep in the red on worries that a crisis in China could be a precursor to global financial crisis adding to concerns over Indian banks already struggling with bad loans back home.
Axis Bank fell 2.67 per cent after Deutsche Bank cut its target price on the stock to Rs 500 from Rs 650.
Other banking stocks such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank , Kotak Mahindra Bank were down between 1 per cent and 3 per cent.
Aviation stocks, however, defied the downtrend and rose on falling crude prices. Jet Airways gained 3 per cent as crude, the biggest cost for airlines, fell below $31 a barrel.
"If earnings are going to be on the lower side then obviously traders will weigh heavy on the market, but there is also a complete absence of buying at least in the frontline stocks," said Deven Choksey, managing director at KR Choksey Securities.
A report by SMC Global said: "Most shares in Asia recovered today, with China's stock market edging higher at the open and China's yuan stabilising for the third-straight day. US stocks eked out small gains Monday, after dipping in and out of negative territory as a deepening rout in oil prices hit the energy sector on the heels of the worst weekly start ever to a new year.Like-for-like sales in the United Kingdom were up just 0.1 per cent on year in December, the British Retail Consortium said. That was well shy of forecasts for an increase of 0.5 per cent following the 0.4 per cent contraction in November. Overall retail sales gained 1.0 per cent on year. In the three months to December, sales were up 0.9 per cent, including a 0.2 per cent gain in food sales and a 1.5 per cent increase in non-food sales."
Meanwhile, foreign investors sold shares worth Rs 1,319.24 crore yesterday as per provisional data.
World stocks fell for the fifth straight day on Tuesday, anchored near their lowest level in over two years with investors rattled by the slump in oil prices and a surge in offshore Chinese yuan deposit rates.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index bounced back on Tuesday as the shares of retailers rallied, after earlier dropping to its lowest level in more than three months.
Asian stocks held near four-year lows and crude oil prices approached a 20 per cent drop in less than two weeks, as investors remained wary of China's volatile financial markets.