Indian shares snapped five-day gains on Tuesday on profit booking in financials and capital goods stocks amid weak Asian cues after North Korea launched a missile over Japan.
At 0550 GMT, the S&P BSE Sensex dropped 0.85 percent at 31,480 while the broader NSE Nifty shed 0.84 percent at 9,829.
Among the top index losers: NTPC fell 3 percent, HDFC declined 2 percent, Axis Bank fell 1.3 percent while Adani Ports was down 1.2 percent.
NTPC was the biggest laggard after the government said it will sell a 5 percent stake in top power producer through a stock market auction.
Among the gainers, RBL Bank gained 5 percent while Thyrocare Technologies added 2.4 percent after huge block deals.
Reliance Infrastructure advanced 4 percent on report that Greenko is in talks with the company to acquire its Mumbai electricity business for enterprise value of $1.75-$2 billion.
Market breadth was in the favour of losers, with about 2 stocks declining to every 1 stock that advanced.
U.S. stock futures and Asian share markets tumbled after North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan, promising to fan simmering tensions with the U.S.
North Korea fired a missile early on Tuesday that flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific waters about 1,180 kilometers (735 miles) off the northern region of Hokkaido, Reuters reported.
Mirroring the concerns, safe-haven Swiss franc hit a one-month high of 0.9498 franc to the dollar while gold jumped 0.9 percent to $1,324 per ounce, hitting its highest level since November 9.
