Updates for market close
By Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran
July 3 (Reuters) - Indian shares inched lower on Thursday as continued profit taking in financials overshadowed optimism over easing global trade tensions.
The Nifty 50 fell 0.19% to 25,405.3 points and the BSE Sensex lost 0.2% to 83,239.47. Both benchmarks had risen around 0.5% intraday.
Financials , heaviest sector on the benchmarks, slipped 0.5%, falling for the fourth straight session on likely profit booking after hitting a record high on Friday, analysts said. The sectoral index fell 2.2% in four days, but is still up 13.7% for the year.
Seven of the 13 major sectors logged losses. The broader small-cap rose 0.3%, while mid-caps was flat.
"While the market is consolidating after the recent gains, the larger trend remains positive," said Aamar Deo Singh, senior vice president at Angel One.
With the benchmarks up 15% between March and June, stretched valuations mean any further significant upside hinges on solid earnings deliveryand a favourable trade deal with the U.S., two analysts said.
Asian shares inched higher, with MSCI's Asia ex-Japan index up 0.3%, after U.S. President Donald Trump a 20% tariff on Vietnamese exports under a new deal, fueling hopes of further trade breakthroughs.
U.S. and Indian trade negotiators were pushing on Wednesday to try to land a tariff-reducing , but some disagreements remained, Reuters reported citing sources.
Kotak Mahindra Bank fell 2% after Macquarie downgraded it to "neutral" from "outperform", citing high valuations at current levels following the stock's 19.1% year-to-date rally.
Investors await U.S. data for June, due later in the day, for clues on the Federal Reserve's future rate action.
Among individual stocks, Punjab National Bank 3.2% after reporting slower loan growth in its June-quarter update. D-mart operator 1% on moderation in its sales growth in its quarterly business update.
(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair, Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Ronojoy Mazumdar and Sonia Cheema)
((VivekKumar.M@thomsonreuters.com [VivekKumar.M@thomsonreuters.com];))
