Mumbai, Jan 6 (PTI) Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, tracking intense selling pressure in market heavyweights Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank amid geopolitical tensions and renewed concerns about potential US tariff hikes.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 376.28 points, or 0.44 per cent, to settle at 85,063.34. During the day, it tanked 539.52 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 84,900.10.

The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 71.60 points, or 0.27 per cent, to end at 26,178.70.

"Domestic equities experienced a correction led by large-cap stocks, with selling in heavyweights like Reliance Industries and HDFC. The market reaction was influenced by uncertainties surrounding the Venezuela-US crisis and Russian oil imports, coupled with anticipations regarding the upcoming Q3 results," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

From the 30-Sensex firms, Trent tumbled 8.62 per cent after the Tata group's retail firm's revenue growth in the December quarter failed to cheer investors.

Reliance Industries cracked 4.42 per cent, while ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, InterGlobe Aviation, and HDFC Bank were also among the laggards.

On the other hand, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, Hindustan Unilever, and State Bank of India were among the gainers.

"Indian equity markets declined for a second consecutive session, with the Nifty ending nearly 0.3 per cent lower amid profit-booking in heavyweight stocks and renewed geopolitical concerns. Sentiment was weighed down by resurfacing trade worries after comments from the US President on potential tariff hikes on India linked to Russian oil purchases.

"Stock-specific pressure added to the weakness, as Reliance Industries fell over 4 per cent, its steepest intra-day decline in more than eight months, while Trent declined 9 per cent, following its weak Q3 business update," Siddhartha Khemka - Head of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said.

The BSE smallcap gauge declined 0.39 per cent, and midcap dipped 0.24 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, energy tanked 1.71 per cent, oil & gas (1.22 per cent), services (1.07 per cent), capital goods (0.63 per cent), realty (0.28 per cent) and power (0.23 per cent).

BSE Healthcare jumped 1.38 per cent, BSE PSU bank (0.52 per cent), consumer durables (0.43 per cent), IT (0.37 per cent) and BSE Focused IT (0.35 per cent).

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 36.25 crore on Monday after a day's breather, according to exchange data. Domestic institutional investors, however, bought stocks worth Rs 1,764.07 crore.

Meanwhile, India's services sector growth moderated in December, as the rates of expansion in incoming new work and output eased to the slowest in 11 months, and companies refrained from recruiting additional staff, a monthly survey said on Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index fell from 59.8 in November to 58.0 in December, indicating the slowest rate of expansion since January.

In the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below 50 denotes contraction.

Firms remained upbeat towards growth prospects, but overall sentiment fell to its lowest level in nearly three-and-a-half years, the survey said.

"Market sentiment remained cautious amid mixed global cues and lingering concerns around geopolitical developments and global trade dynamics. Profit booking in recent outperformers, particularly in select large-cap stocks, continued to weigh on overall momentum," Ajit Mishra, SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi index, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended significantly higher.

Markets in Europe were trading on a mixed note. US markets ended higher on Monday.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, climbed 0.28 per cent to USD 61.93 per barrel.

On Monday, the Sensex dropped 322.39 points, or 0.38 per cent, to settle at 85,439.62. After hitting a record intra-day high of 26,373.20, the Nifty failed to carry forward the momentum and declined 78.25 points or 0.30 per cent to end at 26,250.30. PTI SUM SUM BAL BAL

Indian equity markets fell on geopolitical tensions and US tariff threats, driven by profit-booking and weak services PMI. Indian equity benchmarks declined as geopolitical tensions and US tariff-hike threats prompted profit-booking and selling in large-cap stocks led by Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank; sectoral divergence saw energy, oil & gas and services drop while healthcare and select banking and IT names gained, foreign institutional investors sold net while domestic institutions bought, and market sentiment was dented by a slowdown in the HSBC India Services PMI.