Shares ended lower on Tuesday, dragged down by healthcare stocks and as investors booked profit in recent outperformers such as ITC Ltd.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, says: "Investors took a cautious move due to sudden hike in Indo-Pak tension. Additionally, higher than expected GST rate especially for consumer oriented durables is impacting the market. Pharma continued to taste bitterness in earnings due to high competition which is impacting the sentiment of the sector for the long-term."
On the Sensex, Adani Ports lost the most, declining 6.19 per cent to Rs 332.05. Cipla, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto, GAIL and Coal India fell by up to 4.8 per cent. ITC fell over 1 per cent.
Reliance fell nearly 1.5 per cent, dragging the index down.
Maruti, M&M, ICICI Bank, Wipro and Tata Motors lent support.
“There is some profit-booking taking place in the market at the moment after the substantial rally we saw recently,” said K K Mittal, Vice President at Venus India Asset Finance.
“If earnings pick up further, the NSE index may move towards 10,000 level,” Mittal added.
The country's largest truck-and-bus maker Tata Motors Ltd is slated to post its quarterly results later in the day.
Consumer staples snapped two sessions of gains, with the Nifty FMCG index dropping as much as one per cent.