Indian shares fell for the fifth straight session on Tuesday with financial stocks such as State Bank of India and ICICI Bank leading the decline. The benchmark BSE index closed 0.25 percent lower at 26,307.98, while the broader NSE index ended down 0.27 percent at 8,082.40. SBI declined 2.6 percent while ICICI Bank dropped 2.1 percent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.05 percent.
"Investors are cautious about a Russian retaliation and this increase in geo-political tension could see most of them remain on the sidelines," said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit BNP Paribas Securities. Financial stocks were the biggest laggards with ICICI Bank shedding as much as 1.5 percent and State Bank of India declining up to 2 percent. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and Tata Power Ltd rose as much as 1.7 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.