Indian shares dropped for a second day on Thursday as quarterly earnings mostly indicated companies were facing pressure on profit margins, while the central bank was unlikely to ease its tightening policy due to stubbornly high inflation.
The 30-share BSE index ended down 0.36 percent, or 66.19 points, at 18,436.19 in choppy trade that saw the benchmark gain 0.3 percent at one stage. Twenty-one components declined.
The 50-share NSE Nifty index dropped 0.46 percent to 5,541.60 points.
In the broader market, 934 declines outpaced 490 advances on volume of 528 million shares.
Kotak Mahindra Bank dropped 3 percent after its net interest margin, a key-gauge of profitability, fell to 5 percent in the June quarter from 5.4 percent in the same period a year ago.
The main index has fallen nearly 11 percent so far this year after a spate of rate increases to fight high inflation, which dented growth in Asia's third-largest economy. In comparison, the MSCI's measure of Asian markets other than Japan has remained almost flat.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to raise its key policy rate by 25 basis points on Tuesday after inflation quickened in June and may hike once more by the end of the year, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday.
Still, wholesale price inflation accelerated in June to an annual 9.44 percent from 9.06 percent in May, driven by higher prices for manufactured goods and fuel.
Losses were led by financials such as private-sector lender HDFC Bank that fell 1.35 percent, while bigger rivals State Bank of India and ICICI Bank eased 0. 7 and 0.4 percent respectively.
Energy major Reliance Industries, which has the heaviest weight on the main index, shed 1.75 percent.
Leading biotechnology firm Biocon Ltd pared losses to 2 percent after falling as much as 6 percent as the company reported a lower-than-expected 7.4 percent rise in quarterly profit due to a drop in licensing income.
Hero Honda Motors, the country's largest motorcycle maker, bucked the trend and rallied 1.6 percent after reporting a higher-than-expected 13 percent rise in quarterly net profit.