Dr Reddy's Labs was top Nifty loser, the stock dropped 10.3 per cent to close at Rs 4,853.The Indian equity benchmarks fell for second straight session on Tuesday mirroring losses in global markets after Asian stocks hit their lowest on a third straight session of selling in Chinese internet giants, and real bond yields hit record lows ahead of a Federal Reserve policy meeting.
The Sensex fell as much as 592 points from the day's highest level and Nifty 50 index tumbled below its important psychological level of 15,750 after hitting an intraday high of 15,881.55.
The benchmarks opened higher but fell in noon deals on intense selling pressure in other Asian peers.The Sensex ended 274 points lower to close at 52,579 and Nifty 50 index declined 78 points or 0.5 per cent to settle at 15,746.Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell over 4 per cent and Shanghai Composite index plunged 2.5 per cent.
European markets were also trading with a negative bias as England's FTSE 100 index fell 0.53 per cent, France's CAC40 index declined 0.42 per cent and Germany's DAX declined 0.6 per cent.Back home, nine of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower led by the Nifty Pharma index's over 4 per cent fall.
Pharma shares came under intense selling after pharma heavyweight Dr Reddy's Labs reported that its profit fell 1.5 per cent in June quarter.
Realty, Private Bank, Auto and Bank indices also fell between 0.4-0.8 per cent.On the flipside, metal and PSU bank indices closed higher.Mid- and small-cap shares ended mixed as Nifty Midcap 100 index declined 0.5 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index ended on a flat note.Dr Reddy's Labs was top Nifty loser, the stock dropped 10.3 per cent to close at Rs 4,853 after it reported net profit of Rs 570.8 crore on a consolidated basis in the first quarter of the current fiscal, down 1.5 per cent from Rs 579.3 crore in the year-ago period.Axis Bank slipped 3 per cent to close at Rs 732 after it reported June quarter earnings.Cipla, Adani Ports, Divi's Labs, Sun Pharma, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Grasim Industries, HDFC, Tata Consumer Products and ITC also fell between 1-3.5 per cent.On the flipside, Hindalco, SBI Life, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finance and HDFC Life were among the gainers.The overall market breadth was neutral as 1,668 shares ended lower while 1,594 closed higher on the BSE.