Indian shares down

Indian shares closed 0.1 percent lower in flip-flop trade on Tuesday, weighed by weak global markets and high oil prices, and as investors booked profits after the main index saw its highest close in nearly three months in the previous session. Top engineering firm Larsen & Toubro and lender ICICI Bank led the losses, while energy major Reliance Industries that has the heaviest weight of about 12 percent in the main index also ended in the red.
The main 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange index closed 0.08 percent down at 19,686.82 points, with 18 of its components ending in the negative territory. The index started the day 0.2 percent up and fell as much as 0.9 percent. The 50-share NSE index edged up 0.03 percent to 5,910.05 points. "I think it's good if the market takes a breather because there is enough liquidity waiting to enter the market at lower valuations," said Gajendra Nagpal, chief executive at brokerage Unicon Financial Intermediaries in New Delhi.
Nagpal expects the markets to remain sideways in the coming sessions. The index had gained 9.1 percent in March, posting its best performance since September 2010, as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers of Indian equities after staying net sellers in the first two months of 2011. For the year to date, FIIs remain net sellers of about $660 million of Indian equities despite pouring in about $1.6 billion in March.
Sharp rise in crude oil prices has been a concern as investors fear rising commodity prices could erode corporate profit margins. Oil prices fell on Tuesday, but held near 2-1/2 year highs, with Brent remaining close to $121 a barrel on unrest in oil exporting countries in the Middle East and Africa.
Separately, Credit Suisse said in a report it was cutting its 2011/12 India's gross domestic product growth forecast to 7.5 percent from 7.7 percent, the fourth global brokerage to do so in nearly a month, and raising its year average WPI inflation projection to 7.6 percent from 7 percent on high oil prices.