Weak global markets and investor profit booking, after the benchmark index surged 11.9 percent this month on robust foreign fund inflows, dragged Indian shares down 0.06 percent on Tuesday snapping a two-session rally. Brisk profit sales were seen in metal counters, which had rallied the most in the previous session, dealers said.
The 30-share BSE index eased 12.5 points to close at 20,104.86, with half of its components closing in the red. It had risen as much as 0.2 percent to 20,157.51 points in early trade. The benchmark index, which seesawed in early trade, took a definite turn southwards after European markets turned red on persistent worries over the banking sector in the peripheral eurozone countries.
Betting on the strength of the Indian economy, which is expected to grow 8.5 percent this fiscal, overseas investors have pumped in $5.1 billion into Indian shares this month alone, taking net investment so far in 2010 to $18 billion and lifting the index about 15 percent. The fund inflows top last year's record $17.5 billion that helped push the benchmark index up 81 percent.
Aluminium maker Hindalco Industries, which scaled a 32-month peak in the previous session, and non-ferrous metals producer Sterlite Industries, a unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources, both ended down 0.7 percent. The 50-share NSE index was down 0.1 percent at 6,029.5 points.