The country?s equity indices snapped their winning streaks as investors booked profit on Tuesday. Weak cues from the Asian markets were also responsible for the fall. Rating agencies were on a bearish note with Fitch downgrading ratings of Paris-based BNP Paribas SA while Standard & Poor?s rating services said Spanish lenders have been facing financial difficulties.

Despite domestic markets closing in red, foreign institutional investors (FII) bought stocks worth over Rs 975 crore on Tuesday, taking their monthly tally to Rs 5,400 crore in June. The 30-share Sensex of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was down by 126.86 points to close at 17,749.69. The broader S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) lost 36.75 points to end the day at 5316.55. Among the BSE sectoral indices, IT and metal ended in red while consumer durables and FMCG were the top performers of the day.

Anil Advani, head of research at SBICap Securities, said: ?Profit booking took place in the market after the recent surge. With no new major trigger on the domestic front, markets will remain range bound while picking global cues.?

Some experts believe that volatility is likely to continue as expiry of derivatives contract for June series is due this week. Rollover in the Nifty futures was over 40%, while for Mini Nifty futures, it was approximately at 50%.

Fund managers added that euro zone will remain a critical issue and developments there would set the markets? direction in the near term. Japan?s Nikkei 225 lost over 1.2% to close at 10,112.89 while Hang Seng index shed 0.45% to end the day at 20,819.08. China?s Shanghai Se Composite was marginally up by 0.10% to 2,588.70 and Kospi Index closed at 1,731.48 down by 0.47%.

?Investors are worried that developed nations will not be able to support their economies,? said Hiroshi Morikawa, a strategist in Tokyo at MU Investments Co, which manages $14 billion.