Indian shares fell for a second straight day on Tuesday following a slew of weak earnings from top companies and as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its growth forecast for Asia's third-largest economy.

The NSE Nifty 50 index slipped 0.24% to 12,194.75 by 0408 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex also fell 0.24% to 41,428.73.

Other Asian equities were also subdued as growing concerns about a new strain of coronavirus in China weighed on risk appetite.

India's corporate earnings season had a dull start, with poorly-received December-quarter results for marquee names such as Reliance Industries Ltd  and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd weighing on markets on Monday.

"A lot of companies are getting the benefits of corporate tax cuts. If you remove that benefit, there's a slight disappointment in the numbers," said Rusmik Oza, head of fundamental research at Kotak Securities in Mumbai.

Meanwhile, the IMF on Monday trimmed back its 2020 global growth forecasts due to sharper-than-expected slowdowns in India and other emerging markets.

It sharply lowered its projections for India's 2020/21 GDP growth by 120 basis points to 5.8%, while also cutting its estimate for the current fiscal year ending in March 2020 to 4.8%, below the government and the central bank's projection of 5%.

The revisions come amid a fall in credit growth and stress in India's shadow banking sector, which has dented demand and taken GDP growth to multi-year lows.

Indian markets could also witness some profit-booking by foreign institutional investors after the IMF's revised growth projections, Oza said.

Shares in Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd , one of India's largest private-sector lenders, fell 4.7% on Monday following its quarterly results. The stock was down 0.9% on Tuesday.

Telecom tower company Bharti Infratel Ltd  was the top gainer on the Nifty 50 index, with a 6% climb, while Asian Paints Ltd , with a 2% decline, was the biggest loser.