Shares inched lower on Tuesday, led by losses in information technology stocks, as investors locked in profits in overbought shares towards the year end.
The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.14% at 11,920.95 and the benchmark BSE Sensex fell 0.12% to 40,435.71 by 0417 GMT.
“Valuations are higher than the current reality because of the economy,” said Madhumita Ghosh, Dean at Tasmac Global Solutions in Mumbai. “Some profit-taking is going on.”
The information technology sector was the day’s biggest laggard with its main Nifty sub-index dropping 1.2% in early trading.
Sector heavyweight and India’s second-most valuable company Tata Consultancy Services dropped 1.14%, while Tech Mahindra slipped about 1%.
Auto and realty sectors too were among the top losers in morning trading. The Nifty auto index dropped 0.2% and the Nifty realty index slipped 0.23%.
Pharma stocks were the day’s biggest gainers among sectors. The Nifty pharmaceuticals index rose 0.46%.
Generic drugmaker Sun Pharma topped the gainers on the Nifty, rising 1.37% after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved three generic versions of Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG’s top-selling multiple sclerosis (MS) medicine Gilenya.
The approval on Friday allows HEC Pharm Co Ltd, Biocon Ltd and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd to produce the drug for the treatment of relapsing forms of MS in adult patients.
In the broader Asian markets, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.05% lower, tracking Wall Street losses as investors fretted over a Dec. 15 deadline for the next round of U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports to take effect.