Indian shares slip again as investors await clarity on US economy

India's benchmark indexes ended marginally lower on Thursday as investors awaited further clarity on the health of the US economy.

The Nifty 50 index lost 0.21 per cent to 25,145.10 points, while the S&P BSE Sensex shed 0.18 per cent to 82,201.16. The indexes posted a second consecutive session of losses following a record rally.

"There appears to be a defensive shift underway in the equity markets. The global macro uncertainties appear to be coming at a time when the domestic equity valuations have been expensive," said Rajeev Radhakrishnan and Gaurav Mehta of SBI Mutual Fund.

Indian stocks should remain near current levels until there is more clarity on the US economy, analysts said, citing little room for a sharp upside.

Investors await more US economic data this week, including jobless claims and the closely-watched nonfarm payrolls report on Friday.

Weak US labour market data and comments from a key Federal Reserve official bolstered the case for a sharp US interest rate cut on Sept. 18, with the odds of a 50-basis-point reduction rising to 45 per cent.

On the day, seven of the 13 major sectors logged marginal gains.

The broader, more domestically focussed small- and mid-caps rose about 1 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively, to all-time highs.

Among individual stocks, food delivery platform Zomato jumped 4.9 per cent after JPMorgan raised its price target, citing support from quick-commerce unit Blinkit.

UPL gained about 2 per cent after HSBC hiked the price target for the agro chemicals company on expectation of a likely earnings revival.

AU Small Finance Bank and Cholamandalam Investment and Finance rose 2.2 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively, after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of the stocks with a "buy" rating.