Indian shares fall as earnings weigh on IT, consumer names

Indian shares fell on Thursday, weighed down by post-earnings losses in information technology and consumer stocks, and as financial services firms declined after a three-day rally.

Investors remained on watch for trade talks with the United States amid an imminent free-trade agreement with the UK.

The Nifty 50 settled 0.63% lower at 25,062.1 points while the BSE Sensex lost 0.66% to 82,184.17.

Eleven of the 16 major sectors fell, with IT and consumer shares leading the losses with 2.2% and 1.1% declines, respectively.

Indian benchmarks shares track global rally

India’s broader smallcaps and midcaps lost 1.1% and 0.6%.

“Domestic factors drove the market on the day,” Aamar Deo Singh, senior vice president at Angel One, said.

“We are seeing some profit booking and investors are also looking at corporate earnings. Earnings remain key for Indian market to arrest their underperformance to global equities.”

India’s benchmark indexes have fallen about 1.8% this month against a 4% jump in MSCI’s broadest index for Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan.

On the day, among IT names, Coforge and Persistent Systems fell 9.4% and 7.7%, while Infosys shed 1.4% after their results, as investors worried about demand for India’s $283 billion IT sector.

Consumer giant Nestle India dropped 5.3%, dragging its peers lower as its profit declined on raw material costs and expenses tied to its manufacturing expansion.

Heavyweight financials fell 0.6% as traders took profits following a 2.5% jump over the last three sessions.

Indian Energy Exchange slumped nearly 30% on concerns of market share loss from a planned overhaul of electricity pricing rules.

Tata-owned retailer Trent lost 3.8% after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “buy”.

Dr Reddy’s gained 1.5%, boosted by the drug maker’s plan to launch a generic obesity drug in 87 countries next year.