The Sensex and Nifty ended marginally higher, taking a breather after setting record closes in the previous sessions as investors booked profits in recent outperformers such as ITC Ltd, while the arrival of monsoon rains kept the sentiment upbeat.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex ended higher by 50.12 points or 0.16 per cent at 31,159.40 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty closed up 19.65 points or 0.2 per cent at 9,624.55.
Among BSE sectoral indices, healthcare index was the star-perfomer and was up 2.28 per cent, followed by realty 1.16 per cent, infrastructure 0.89 per cent and banking 0.59 per cent. On the other hand, capital goods index fell the most by 1.01 per cent, followed by FMCG 0.98 per cent, consumer durables 0.86 per cent and power 0.2 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were Adani Ports (+3.43%), NTPC (+3.17%), Dr Reddy's (+2.33%), Hero MotoCorp (+2.21%) and ICICI Bank (+1.89%), while the major losers were Power Grid (-2.16%), ITC (-1.77%), HDFC (-1.18%), L&T (-1.18%) and Bharti Airtel (-1.09%).
Among gainers, Aurobindo Pharma climbed 13%, after it said that it did not expect price erosion in the US to impact the company too much due to its wider product basket compared to competitors.
Larsen & Toubro Ltd also rose, touching its highest in more than 1-1/2 years after the engineering company reported a 28 per cent rise in March-quarter consolidated profit.
Among decliners, ITC Ltd fell 1.8 per cent after gaining 13.6 per cent this month as of its last close.
Meanwhile, Coal India Ltd hit a more than three-year low after the coal miner posted a 38 per cent fall in consolidated quarterly profit, missing analysts estimates, hurt by higher costs.
State-run power plant equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd dropped to over four-month low, after it reported a bigger-than-expected plunge in March quarter net profit.
Jubilant Foodworks Ltd fell as much as 13.1 per cent to post its biggest intraday loss in over 15 months after it reported a 76 per cent drop in March quarter profit.
Monsoon onset
The monsoon, which delivers about 70 per cent of India's annual rainfall, arrived at the southern Kerala coast on Tuesday, in line with forecasts, a weather office source said, brightening the outlook for higher farm output and robust economic growth.
The arrival of rains bolstered optimism about the economy ahead of the launch of the national goods and services tax (GST) later this year, but analysts said extensive gains in Indian shares blunted the monsoon's impact on markets.
“Progress of the monsoon and GST rollout will be a key factor going ahead,” said Siddharth Purohit, senior research analyst at Angel Broking.
“Broadly, markets are consolidating now, and before we see further uptrend, there will be more consolidation for a few sessions,” Purohit said, adding: “absence of any major corporate announcements will keep the markets in narrow range for a few sessions.”
Brokers said emergence of profit-booking by investors in recent gainers at record levels amid continued foreign fund outflows and muted earnings posted by some blue-chip companies mainly pulled down the key indices from their peaks.
The BSE index posted a record high close for a third consecutive session on Monday, while the NSE index closed at a record high for a second consecutive session.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 709.97 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares to the tune of Rs 290.53 crore yesterday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
Asian shares
The euro came under pressure on Tuesday after a media report that Greece may forego its next bailout payment if creditors cannot strike a debt relief deal, while Asian stocks were shackled by holidays in some regional markets and the United States and UK.
The common currency slid 0.2 per cent to $1.1136 in its third session of declines after a German press report Athens may opt out of its next bailout payment.