BENGALURU, Jan 2 (Reuters) - India's benchmark indexes fell on Tuesday, dragged by financials and information technology stocks, as selling pressure emerged near record high levels.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 fell 0.42% to 21,649.90 points, while the S&P BSE Sensex shed 0.50% to 71,900.29, as of 10:25 a.m. IST.

"Since the markets have factored in all the positives in the one-sided rally over the last two months, we could see some selling pressure at record high levels," said Raghvendra Nath, managing director at Ladderup Wealth Management.

The Nifty gained about 20% in 2023, with over half of it in the final two months alone, aided by faster-than-expected quarterly growth, elevated bets of U.S. rate cuts in the first half of 2024, and steady retail participation.

On the day, IT stocks lost 0.9%, while financials shed 0.5%. The two sub-indexes, which account of 49% of the Nifty, had gained about 16% and 12% in the final two months of 2023.

On the flip side, the pharma index rose as much as 2.05% to a new all-time high before paring gains slightly.

Drug maker Lupin jumped 4.6% after Nomura raised price target to a Street high 1,593 rupees, on expectations of growth in profitability due to upcoming U.S. launches and strength in India business.

Divi's Laboratories, Sun Pharma and Cipla were among the top Nifty 50 gainers, adding between 1.6% and 3%.

Coal India gained 2% after reporting a 8.2% year-on-year rise in coal production in December.

On the other hand, Eicher Motors extended declines, losing 1.7%, as a tax penalty notice and fall in total motorcycle sales in December continued to weigh.

Mahindra and Mahindra lost 2%, after the company attributed the decline in tractor dispatches in December to tapering of agricultural activities in the month and flagged supply challenges on Monday.

These losses dragged the auto index 1% lower. (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Varun H K)