REUTERS - Indian shares fell on Tuesday after four sessions of gains as sentiment across the globe was cautious ahead of the outcomes of the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan's policy meetings later this week.
The consensus is that the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged, but investors are looking for commentary and guidance for the next interest rate hike.
Meanwhile, the BOJ could make negative interest rates the primary focus of its monetary policy at the conclusion of its meeting on Wednesday.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.2 percent after major U.S. indexes ended a choppy session nearly flat on Monday. "It's more of a global phenomenon which is affecting the market," said R.K. Gupta, managing director, Taurus Asset Management.
The Nifty was down 0.33 percent at8,779.20 as of 0626 GMT, dragged lower by financial and IT stocks.
The Sensex was 0.34 percent lower at 28,538.19.
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Investors booked profits in sectors such as auto and banks that have gained recently.
The Nifty Auto index was down 0.61 percent after rising about 23 percent this year as of Monday's close. Hero MotoCorp Ltd, which was the top percentage loser, fell as much as 2.11 percent.
The NSE Bank index was down 0.39 percent, having risen 0.60 percent this month as of Monday's close.
Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd's shares fell as much as 8.21 percent to their lowest in over seven months after the company on Monday approved the resignation of Ajay Kaul as CEO-cum-whole time director.
(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)