India's Sensex falls; Higher tax pulls tobacco firms lower

India raised the total tax on cigarettes by as much as 792 rupees for every 1,000 cigarettes.

india trader
Trader works at a brokerage in Mumbai, India. Reuters

Indian shares retreated from record highs on Tuesday, dragged lower by ITC after the goods and services tax council hiked tax on cigarettes.

The S&P BSE Sensex dropped 1.13 percent to 31,710 while the broader NSE Nifty lost 0.90 percent to 9,827.

Meanwhile, weak Asian cues also weighed on the sentiment.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.1 percent after Republicans effort to dismantle and replace the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, faced a fresh setback on Monday.

ITC slumped 13 percent, VST Industries dropped 8 percent while Godfrey Phillips declined 6 percent after India raised the total tax on cigarettes by as much as 792 rupees ($12.31) for every 1,000 cigarettes.

Reliance Industries was down 2 percent.

Among the gainers, Jubilant FoodWorks rose 4 percent after its net profit increased 26 percent in the quarter ended June.

Cement maker ACC gained 1 percent after a better-than-expected quarterly profit.

Market breadth was in the favour of losers, with about 2 stocks declining to every 1 stock that advanced.

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