RIL, Infy drag markets down 114 points

Benchmark share indices snapped three-day winning streak, amid a volatile trading session, weighed down by oil and gas share after recent gains post the government's decision to steeply hike domestic natural gas price. Weakness in financial shares also dampened market sentiment.

The 30-share Sensex ended down 114 points at 19,464 and the 50-share Nifty closed 41 points lower at 5,858.

In Asia most major markets ended higher except Hong Kong.

Hang Seng ended down 0.7% after starting the day up 1 percent as Hong Kong returned from a three-day holiday weekend.

Meanwhile, Nikkei share average climbed 1.8% to finish above 14,000 for the first time in five weeks on Tuesday as blue-chip exporters gained on a weaker yen.

Encouraging US manufacturing and construction data also lifted investor sentiment. Shanghai Composite ended up 0.6% while Straits Times was up 1%.

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European shares were trading marginally lower as investors booked profits at higher levels after recent gains. Investors also remained cautious ahead of Friday's US payrolls report, seen as key to determining when the Federal Reserve will scale back the huge stimulus programme The FTSE-100, CAC-40 and DAX were down 0.4-1.2% each.

Realty Index was the top loser among the sectoral indices on the BSE down 1.8% followed by Oil and Gas, Bankex, Auto, IT and Capital Goods. Gainers include Consumer Durables and Healthcare indices.

Oil and Gas shares witnessed profit taking after they gain following the hike in natural gas price by the government to $8.4 mBtu from $4.2. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries ended down 1.3% and ONGC dipped 1.8% to close at Rs 322.

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Infosys ended down 1.7% on concerns over revenue guidance for the current fiscal. Infosys is expected to cut 2013-14 revenue guidance to 4-6% as wage hikes and higher costs are hitting its margins, offsetting the benefits of rupee depreciation, says a Morgan Stanley report.

Larsen & Toubro ended 1.4% lower on profit taking after recent gains.

The company on Monday said its June order book touched Rs 3,057 crore across various business segments.

Tata Motors closed 1.1% lower after the company reported 18.08% decline in total vehicle sales at 52,708 units in June 2013. The company had sold 64,341 units in the same month last year, Tata Motors said in a statement.

Bank shares ended lower after 26 companies submitted their applications to the RBI for bank licence. Further the Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said that there was no ceiling on the number of entities which can be permitted to operate a bank. SBI, HDFC and HDFC Bank ended down 1.2-1.4% each.

Sensex gainers include, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, TCS and BHEL.

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Among other shares, Lupin ended up 3.1% at Rs 801 in an otherwise weak market on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on overseas acquisition report.

Gitanjali Gems ended in lower circuit for seventh day in a row, down 5% at Rs 214 on BSE after the company said Macquarie has invoked nearly 5 million pledge shares of the company in past two trading sessions.

Hindustan Copper ended lower by 7% at Rs 72.65 ahead of the Empowered Group of Ministers' on disinvestment meeting today to decide on the base price for government stake sale in the company.

Elder Pharmaceuticals surged 3% to end at Rs 344 after the company said its UK arm NutraHealth has acquired Max Healthcare Ltd to re-enter over-the-counter pharmaceutical business for an undisclosed amount.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap ended down 0.4% and the Small-cap index ended 0.1% lower.

Market breadth was negative with 1,212 losers and 1,131 gainers on the BSE.