Shares ended lower on Thursday, weighed down by stocks such as Bajaj Auto Ltd and Lupin Ltd while profit-taking in bluechips also hurt sentiment.

Bajaj Auto fell 5 per cent after its earnings fell short of analysts' estimates despite posting a 37 per cent increase in quarterly profit.

Lupin fell 5.28 per cent ahead of reporting its earnings on a media report that the US Food and Drug Administration had inspected its manufacturing unit in Goa last week and had made several observations post inspection. Lupin was not immediately available to comment.

Lupin also recorded a 16 per cent fall in consolidated profit for the quarter ended June.

Selling pressure in financials, healthcare and industrial stocks made sure the benchmark BSE index and the NSE index erased most of their gains from Wednesday, when the markets closed at a three month high.

The BSE Sensex finished down 0.47 per cent or 134 points at 28,370.84 while the NSE index shed 47 points or 0.54 per cent to 8,586.50.

Bank stocks such as ICICI Bank (-1.33%), HDFC Bank (-0.58%) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (-1.06 per cent) also saw heavy selling.

Blue chips Larsen & Toubro down 1.32 per cent and Hindustan Unilever down 1.69 per cent also weighed on the market.

Cairn India Ltd jumped 6.17 per cent after the Financial Times reported on Wednesday that the company's former parent Cairn Energy Plc would vote against Vedanta Ltd's $2.3 billion buyout offer for Cairn India's minority shareholders

Tata Steel Ltd's shares fell 1.03 per cent as the outlook for the global steel industry continued to be bleak

Foreign portfolio investors bought shares worth a net Rs 450.32 crore yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

A report by SMC investments and Advisors said: "Shares in Asia were mixed as investor focus turned increasingly to earnings, including disappointing results from Apple Inc. and turmoil in the commodities market. US stocks slipped overnight, led down by the information-technology and telecommunication sectors."

Global markets

A raft of forecast-beating corporate results kept European equities afloat on Thursday, shrugging off declines in Asia on the back of mixed regional data.

There was also more reason for optimism on Greece, where Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras contained a rebellion in his left-wing Syriza party to win parliamentary approval for reforms required to start talks on a financial rescue deal.

Peripheral bond yields fell and the German bund held steady, while the euro rose to hit $1.10 for the first time in more than a week. The dollar against a basket of six major currencies fell 0.6 per cent.

Hong Kong stocks, which have been moving mostly in tandem with their mainland peers, rose on Thursday, encouraged by a six-day winning streak in the Shanghai market.

The Hang Seng index rose 0.5 per cent to 25,398.85, while the China Enterprises Index gained 0.9 per cent, to 11,834.47 points.

Japanese shares rose on Thursday, driven by domestic earnings optimism. Strong performances in retail, rail and hospitality sectors followed Wednesday's announcement that Japan had a record number of foreign visitors in the first half of the year.

The Nikkei share average ended 0.4 percent higher at 20,683.95. The broader Topix climbed 0.6 percent to 1,664.88, and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 rose 0.6 percent to 15,019.88.

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