Indian stocks end lower as metals, banks drag; ITC slumps 6%

BENGALURU, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Indian shares snapped a seven-session winning streak on Tuesday, dragged down by metal and bank stocks, while the country’s top cigarette maker ITC plunged 6% after the government decided to form a group for tobacco tax policy.

The NSE Nifty 50 index ended down 0.3% at 18,418.75, while the S&P BSE Sensex dropped 0.1% to 61,716.05. Earlier in the session, the NSE hit a record high of 18,604.45.

The Nifty metals index fell 2.5%, having gained nearly 4% in the previous session, while the public sector bank index dropped 3.73% after rising for seven straight sessions.

“Markets are seeing some profit-taking as we are making new highs every day. But broadly, we are seeing buying interest emerging at every depth,” said Ajit Mishra, vice president for research at Religare Broking.

ITC Ltd was the top loser on the Nifty, falling more than 6% after a health ministry document showed that the government has decided to constitute an expert group to develop a comprehensive tax policy for all tobacco products.

Hindustan Unilever ended down 4% after the consumer giant said its gross margins would likely remain under pressure due to elevated commodity prices, even though it reported higher profit for the September quarter.

The Nifty IT index rose 2.2% and was the top gainer among the sub-indexes. Shares of Larsen and Toubro Infotech surged 16% after strong September-quarter results.

TTK Prestige surged as much as 20% to a record high of 10,587.15 rupees after the kitchen appliance maker said it would consider a sub-division or a split of shares.

Indian Energy Exchange also soared to a record peak on Tuesday after the energy trading platform said it would consider a bonus issue of shares. (Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)