Banks, energy stocks drag Indian shares lower; Reliance, SBI slip

Indian shares ended lower on Tuesday as losses in finance and energy sectors wiped out gains from auto and tech stocks, with Reliance Industries and State Bank of India weighing on the blue-chip Nifty 50 index.

The NSE Nifty 50 index ended 0.61% lower at 17,999.2 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.65% to 60,322.37.

The Nifty Bank Index fell as much as 1.27% before ending 1.02% lower, as concerns over rising prices and inflation remain.

SBI and Federal Bank were the bottom performers on the sub-index, falling 2.26% and 2.16%, respectively.

"Mixed global cues are keeping participants on the edge and we expect the trend to continue, at least in the near future," Ajit Mishra, VP-Research, Religare Broking, wrote in a note.

"Among the sectors, the continuous underperformance of the banking pack was dragging the benchmark lower while others helped the index cap the damage," he added.

Among energy stocks, Adani Transmission, Reliance Industries and NTPC Ltd closed lower, shedding 2.99%, 2.32% and 2.08%, respectively, while the Nifty Energy Index ended 1.34% down.

Auto stocks, however, were upbeat, rising as much as 3.35% before ending the day 2.48% higher.

Maruti Suzuki gained as much as 8.3% to record its biggest intraday gain since April 2020, before ending 7.29% higher.

Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd and Tata Motors climbed 3.44% and 2.69%, respectively.

Gains in IT company Coforge, which ended 4.10% higher after filing to list American depositary shares on the New York Stock Exchange, helped boost the Nifty IT Index 0.49% higher.

Global stock markets marched towards new peaks on Tuesday as US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping held over three hours of virtual talk, helping to nudge China's yuan to a five-month high and pulling the dollar lower.