Stocks end 8-day rally on Greece

Indian equities fell in the last hour of trade, with the benchmark index ending an eight-day advance, before the monthly derivatives contracts expire on Thursday and as Greece creditors rejected proposals for a debt agreement.

Hindalco Industries and Tata Steel were the top loser on the S&P BSE Sensex. State Bank of India, the nation's biggest lender, slid for the first time in seven days. Tractor maker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. fell from a six-month high.

The Sensex dropped 0.3 per cent to 27,729.67 at the close, erasing an intraday gain of 0.5 per cent. The gauge on Tuesday capped its longest winning run since January as monsoon rains 23 per cent above normal eased the outlook for food inflation and boost the chance of a fourth interest-rate cut this year.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.5 per cent after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said that creditors rejected the nation's proposals for a debt agreement.

"A halt after an eight-day rally was very much on the cards and the Greece announcement provided just that," Kaushik Dani, a fund manager of portfolio management services at Karvy Stock Broking, said by phone. "The market direction from hereon will depend on derivatives expiry and the resolution of the Greece debt issue."

Traders extended the least amount of monthly CNX Nifty Index futures contracts this year, signaling caution before the securities lapse on Thursday. The rollover rate of June futures was 44 per cent at 4:01 pm in Mumbai. That's the lowest level a day before expiry for any futures contract so far in 2015, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Hindalco tumbled 3.6 per cent, ending a six-day rally and Tata Steel plunged 2.7 per cent. State Bank retreated two per cent.

Mahindra & Mahindra fell 2.5 per cent and NTPC, the biggest power producer, slid 1.8 per cent.

Foreigners sold a net $49.1 million of local stocks on June 23, paring the year's inflow to $6.36 billion. They were net sellers on 12 of the 16 trading days through June 22, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The Sensex has risen 0.8 per cent this year and trades at 15.5 times projected 12-month earnings, compared with the MSCI Emerging Markets Index's multiple of 12.