New Delhi, Sept. 2 -- The Indian stock market reversed its early gains in Tuesday's session to close lower as investors appeared to book profits at higher levels, causing the Nifty 50 and Sensex to shed 0.18% and 0.26%, respectively.

On the other hand, mid- and small-cap stocks continued to do well. The Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 both gained 0.27% and 0.53% respectively. Markets opened higher, helped by Monday's strong close, but heavy selling in financial stocks during the last hour pulled the market down.

Among sectors, banking stocks were the worst hit, with the Nifty Private Bank index falling 0.64%. This was followed by autos and pharma, which fell 2.12% and 1.64%, respectively.

Investors are also keeping an eye on th...