Sensex, Nifty Decline For Second Straight Day; IT, Pharma Shares Drag

India's  equity benchmarks S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 fell for the second straight session on Tuesday dragged by selling pressure in IT and pharma shares. 

For most part of the day, the benchmarks traded firm, with the Sensex climbing up as much as 1.35 per cent - or 414.11 points - to touch 31,086.70, after starting the session up 191.68 points at 30,864.27. The broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark rose to as high as 9,161.65, having opened higher at 9,099.75 compared to its previous close of 9,039.25.

The Sensex ended 63 points or 0.21 per cent lower at 30,609.30 and the Nifty slipped 10 points to close at 9,029.05.

Eight of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher, led by the Nifty Metal index, which gained 2.7 per cent. The auto and banking sector gauges rose 1.51 per cent and 0.9 per cent each respectively.

On the other hand, the Nifty IT index was the top loser, down 1.9 per cent.

Mid- and small-cap shares outperformed their larger peers, as the Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 1.3 per cent while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.8 per cent.

Bharti Airtel was the top Nifty loser, dropping 6 per cent to close at Rs 558 on the BSE, after news agency Bloomberg reported that its parent, Bharti Telecom, was looking at raising $1 billion by selling shares in the mobile phone operator through a block deal.

Bajaj Finserv, TCS, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma, Hero MotoCorp, Cipla, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Vedanta and UPL were also among the losers.

On the flip side, JSW Steel, Eicher Motors, Titan, UltraTech Cement, IndusInd Bank, Shree Cements, Hindalco and Nestle were among the gainers.

The overall market breadth was neutral as 1,225 closed higher while 1,125 ended lower on the BSE.

Equities elsewhere in Asia climbed higher, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rising 1.6 per cent, as investors looked past US-China trade tensions, and focused on more stimulus in China and a gradual reopening of the world economy.