Sensex ends 108 points down; Nifty below 8,250; Lupin top loser

Extending losses for the second consecutive session, the domestic markets ended the day in red on Tuesday as companies posting disappointing earnings such as Lupin fell, while investors turned cautious ahead of US Federal Reserve meeting later in the day and Bank of Japan policy meet later in the week.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended the day 108.52 points lower at 27,253.44, while broader CNX Nifty fell below its crucial support level of 8,250 to end at 8,232.90, down 27.65 points.

Market breadth was negative with 17 of 30 Sensex stocks ending the day in red.

Lupin was the top Sensex loser and ended the day 5.25 per cent down at Rs 1945.65 as the company reported a 35 per cent slump in its net profit at Rs 409 crore in the September quarter. 

Meanwhile, investors will be looking for further clues as to the timing of any US rate hike, which they expect could happen as early as December.

At home, earnings and the expiry of monthly derivative contracts on Thursday were adding to the caution in markets.

"(Earnings) numbers, FOMC meeting, world market cues and (derivatives) expiry are the factors weighing on the market," said Alex Mathews, head of research at Geojit BNP Paribas.

Shares of HDFC ended 2.87 per cent down even as the company reported a growth of 18 per cent in net profit at Rs 1,605 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2015, against Rs 1,358 crore for the corresponding period last year.

Maruti Suzuki added 2.44 per cent after the carmaker said quarterly net profit rose about 42 per cent from a year earlier.

Among Asian markets, China's Shanghai Composite ended with an uptick of 0.14 per cent but slid over 2 per cent intraday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed the day flat, while Japan's Nikkei settled nearly 1 per cent down.

Overnight, US markets showed weakness and closed flat as traders refrained from participating ahead of Federal Reserve's Monetary Policy announcement on Wednesday.

Lowdown on markets today:

01:32 pm

Sensex at 27,256.56, down 105.40 points

Nifty at 8,230.85, down 29.70 points

12:16 pm

Sensex at 27,267.96, down 94 points

Nifty at 8,233.70, down 26.85 points

11:00 am

Sensex at 27233.35, down 128 points

Nifty at 8220.35, down 40 points

09:32 am

27,269.10, down 92.86 points

8,233, down 27.55 points