Indian shares ended a choppy session notably lower on Tuesday, mirroring weak global cues as investors turned their focus to Fed chairman Ben Bernanke's Congressional testimony to Congress and the release of the Fed's May minutes due this Wednesday for cues on the outlook for interest rates.
Despite growing speculation about Fed's exit from QE, many analysts expect Bernanke to say that he is still cautious about the recovery and the Fed would stick with its asset-buying program.
The benchmark 30-share Sensex ended near the day's low at 20,112, down 112 points or 0.56 percent from its previous close, with 21 of its components retreating.
The broader Nifty index fell by 43 points or 0.7 percent to 6,114, while the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes ended down 0.6 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively. Realty, auto, power and banking stocks bore the brunt of the selling.
Among the prominent decliners in the Nifty pack, Tata Motors, DLF, Grasim, JP Associates, NTPC, and UltraTech fell 3-5 percent. Maruti Suzuki lost 2.5 percent after the nation's largest car maker said that state-run insurer LIC has sold a 2.53 percent stake in the company over a period of almost six months.
ITC ended down 0.8 percent after the diversified business conglomerate said it has expanded its footprint in the deodorants market with the launch of a range of products under the brand 'Engage'.
IFCI and Voltas tumbled 3-4 percent on disappointing results. Bajaj Finance plummeted 6.7 percent on profit taking, snapping a five-day winning streak.
Telecom stocks ended mostly lower following reports a unit of the Comptroller and Auditor General has slammed private telecom service providers for acting as a cartel in the recent spectrum auction. Bharti Airtel declined 1.2 percent, Idea Cellular dropped 0.6 percent and Reliance Communication shed 1.5 percent.
Tata Teleservices bucked the downward trend to end 2.6 percent higher after Cyrus Mistry-controlled Tata Sons proposed to sell 1.89 crore shares of the company representing 1 percent of the total equity shares by June 4.
A depreciating rupee helped IT stocks extend their previous session's gains. Infosys added a percent, HCL Technologies gained 1.3 percent and TCS advanced 1.4 percent.
Coal India rallied 2.4 percent as the state-owned miner reported a 90 percent jump in its fourth-quarter standalone net profit, riding on dividend income paid by its subsidiaries. Pharmaceutical stocks like Cipla and Sun Pharma, NMDC and Asian Paints all closed up about half a percent each.
Shares of ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector lender, hit an intraday high of Rs. 1,236 before paring gains to end marginally higher at Rs.1,210.
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Market Analysis
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.