Sensex, Nifty slips on profit-booking; Sun Pharma drags

By Krishna V Kurup

REUTERS - Indian shares edged lower on Tuesday with Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd leading the fall after its U.S. arm reported weak quarterly results, while investors booked profit in recent outperformers such as ITC Ltd.

The broader NSE Nifty fell 0.6 percent at 9,381.6 as of 0557 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was down 0.62 percent at 30,381.7.

"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.

Pharma stocks were the biggest losers and the Nifty Pharma Index was on track to post its sixth consecutive session of loss, with Sun Pharma hitting a six-month low after Taro Pharmaceutical Industries reported weak March quarter results.

Consumer staples snapped two sessions of gains, with the Nifty FMCG index dropping as much as one percent.

Both ITC Ltd and Dabur India Ltd, down as much as 1.7 and 1.2 percent respectively, were on track to post their first loss in three sessions.

Shares of state-run GAIL (India) Ltd fell as much as 6.3 percent to their lowest in three months after the company posted a 69 percent fall in fourth-quarter profit on Monday.

Bucking the broader trend, IT stocks and consumer discretionary stocks gained. Tata Consultancy Services rose as much as 1.3 percent, while Maruti Suzuki India Ltd rose as much as 2.8 percent.

(Reporting by Krishna V Kurup in Bengaluru; Editing by Vyas Mohan)