Equity benchmarks inch lower on profit booking; IT jumps ahead of earnings

India's stock benchmarks inched lower on Wednesday as investors booked profits after four straight sessions of gains, while information technology stocks climbed ahead of quarterly results.

The Nifty 50 edged down 0.25% to 25,046.15, while the BSE Sensex shed 0.19% to 81,773.66. The two indexes rose about 2% each in the last four sessions.

Fourteen of the 16 major sectors logged losses on the day. The broader small-caps and mid-caps fell 0.5% and 0.7%, respectively.

The heaviest-weighted financials dropped about 0.5%, snapping a six-session rally in which it had gained 3%. The shares had rallied after the central bank announced measures to boost bank lending and on positive pre-earnings updates from banks for the September quarter.

The initial updates from banks have been strong and there are signs of green shoots in consumer demand, thanks to policy measures such as the repo rate cut and consumer tax cut, among others, said Arun Malhotra, fund manager at CapGrow Capital.

Auto stocks fell 1.5%, led by a 2.4% drop in Tata Motors after its luxury unit, Jaguar Land Rover, said it expected a drop in second-quarter volumes.

Bucking the broader market trend, the IT index jumped 1.5% ahead of the quarterly results of Tata Consultancy Services, the country's No. 1 software services firm, due on Thursday. TCS rose 1.8%.

Analysts cited attractive valuations, saying the shares offered better risk-reward, despite expectations of muted results. Investors' focus will be on any commentary around signs of revival in demand and client spending.

Reliance Industries fell 1.3%, succumbing to profit booking, after an 1.6% jump in the last two sessions.

Jewellery retailer Titan jumped 4.3% after it reported a better-than-expected pre-quarterly update.

SBI Cards and Payment Services gained 1.7% after the central bank proposed to reduce risk weights on some loans, including credit cards.

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)