|
New Delhi: Indian shares fell 0.6 per cent on Monday, with investors in a consolidation mood after sharp gains in April and little direction from world markets.
As most big companies have reported their quarterly earnings, investors will be taking cues from foreign funds and overseas markets, traders said.
Top lender State Bank of India and leading mortgage firm Housing Finance Corp led the losses as investors locked in profits after they had shot up last on better-than-expected results.
"I think it's more because of the international markets which were kind of flattish... and Europe opened weak," said Neeraj Dewan, director at Quantum Stock Broking.
The BSE 30-share index closed down 0.62 per cent, or 109.22 points, at 17,490.90, after starting the day up 0.5 per cent. Twenty-six components ended lower.
The benchmark, which rose 1.8 per cent on Friday to its highest close since February 28, had climbed 10.5 per cent in April. It was the first monthly gain in 2008 and the best rise since October.
Traders said there was profit-taking as the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) stood at more than 66 at Friday's close, after a near 19 per cent rally from the 2008 low on March 17. A reading closer to 70 indicates the market is almost overbought.
At Monday's close, the RSI was 64.5.
Foreign portfolio investors were mostly quiet, traders said. Data showed foreign funds were net sellers of $21 million of shares on Wednesday, taking their net sales this year to $2.8 billion, after record buys worth $17.4 billion in 2007.
State Bank of India shed 2.4 per cent to Rs1,779.20, almost reversing its 2.6 per cent gain on Friday after forecast beating results. HDFC fell 2.3 per cent to Rs2,710.05.
L&T reverses
Larsen and Toubro, one of the few top firms yet to report results, reversed early gains of 3.9 per cent and ended 0.3 per cent lower at Rs3,133.10. The engineering firm said on Monday it had won an order worth Rs3.4 billion ($84 million) from state-run Power Grid Corp.
In the broader market, 1,440 gainers were ahead of 1,271 losers on volume of 393.5 million shares.
The 50-share NSE index fell 0.69 per cent to 5,192.25.
Elsewhere in the region, Colombo's All-share index gained 0.47 per cent to 2,648.23.
Tata Motors Ltd fell 0.7 per cent to Rs685.55 after its April vehicles sales fell six per cent from a year earlier.
Top utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra fell 1.9 per cent to Rs677.50 after its plan to raise $173 million through placement of convertible debentures with Goldman Sachs.
The top three shares by volume were - Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd on 18.6 million shares, Ispat Industries on 14.7 million shares and IFCI Ltd on 12.3 million shares.
Pakistan
index falls by 1.9%
Pakistan's benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange 100 Index fell 283.69 points, or 1.9 per cent, to 14,673.13 at close yesterday. The index has fallen 5.2 per cent in the last four trading days.
MCB Bank Ltd, the nation's biggest lender by market value, fell Rs7.28, or 1.7 per cent to Rs414.60, after rising as much as 1.7 per cent earlier on reports that Malayan Banking Bhd., Malaysia's biggest bank, agreed to pay as much as Rs60.3 billion ($922 million) for 20 per cent of the Pakistan bank, said Atif Malik, a research analyst at JS Global Capital Ltd. in Karachi. The stock fell later as investors sold to benefit from earlier share price gains, Malik said.
- Bloomberg
|
