Sensex Falls For Fourth Day

(RTTNews) - The Indian markets reversed early gains to end modestly lower on Tuesday as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of the outcome of Federal Reserve's two-day meeting on Wednesday and expiry of the July series F&O contracts due on Thursday.

The benchmark index BSE Sensex ended the session down 102.15 points or 0.37 percent at 27.459.23, with automakers such as Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors and Hero MotoCorp and financials such as HDFC and ICICI Bank pacing the decliners. The broader Nifty index fell 24 points or 0.29 percent to close at 8.337.

PNB climbed 5.4 percent and Union Bank of India advanced 2.6 percent after unveiling their first-quarter results.

SpiceJet shares soared 5.8 percent before announcing its quarterly results after the market close. The low-cost carrier posted its second straight quarterly profit at Rs 71.8 crore in the three months ended June, compared with a net loss of Rs 124 crore in the year-ago period.

Maruti Suzuki India gained half a percent after posting 56 percent growth in its standalone net profit for the first quarter ended June.

HDFC shares retreated 2.7 percent as the mortgage lender posted 1.2 percent growth in quarterly net profit, missing street estimates.

On the global front, Asian stocks recouped early losses to end mixed as Chinese authorities scrambled once again to stave off a full-blown market collapse. China's Shanghai Composite index closed down 62.56 points or 1.68 percent at 3,663 after seeing its worst daily performance in more than eight years the previous day.

The European markets rallied after five days of losses as a slew of encouraging earnings reports as well as merger and acquisition news helped offset recent concerns about a slowdown in China.

Oil prices continued to weaken, touching a four-month low on uncertainty over the health of the Chinese economy, while gold hovered near 5-1/2-year low, failing to benefit from the relatively weaker dollar heading into the FOMC meeting beginning later tonight.