Indian shares edged lower on Thursday, as investors awaited earnings of some of the blue-chips such as Reliance Industries and Wipro.
The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.16 percent to 31,904 while the broader NSE Nifty shed 0.27 percent to 9,873.
In Asia, stocks climbed for a ninth straight day. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.15 percent, hovering near its highest level since December 2007.
Stocks of Wipro and Reliance Industries fell about 0.3 percent ahead of earnings, to be released later in the day.
Oil and Natural Gas climbed 2 percent after cabinet approved sale of the government's stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corp to ONGC.
Other gainers included Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Mahindra and Mahindra and Larsen and Toubro, up between 1 percent to 3.7 percent.
Among the laggards, KPIT Technologies fell 3.1 percent after its net profit grew marginally in the first quarter.
Canara Bank slumped 5 percent after a lower-than-expected quarterly net profit.
Market breadth was in the favour of losers, with about 2 stocks declining to every 1 stock that advanced.
