Indian shares fall on downbeat earnings from heavyweights
- Nifty 50 and the Sensex shed 0.4% each to their 10-week closing lows of 25,585.5 and 83,246.18, respectively
BENGALURU: Indian shares fell on Monday after downbeat quarterly earnings from blue-chip companies weighed on sentiment, while renewed fears of a global trade war kept investors cautious.
The Nifty 50 and the Sensex shed 0.4% each to their 10-week closing lows of 25,585.5 and 83,246.18, respectively.
Nifty heavyweights - Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank - were the biggest drags, falling 3% and 2.1%, respectively, after missing quarterly earnings expectations.
Conglomerate Reliance missed December-quarter profit estimates on weakness in its retail business and higher expenses, while ICICI Bank reported a lower-than-expected profit due to elevated provisions.
IT firm Wipro slid 8%, its biggest one-day percentage drop since July 2024. It projected weaker-than-expected revenue growth for the ongoing March quarter after deal booking fell to a six-quarter low in the December period.
“Overall, it has been a mixed bag of earnings so far. But we are more inclined towards the positives in terms of better commentary from IT companies and strong loan growth from banks,” said Arun Malhotra, fund manager at CaprGrow Capital.
Gains in fast-moving consumer goods, which rose 0.7%, helped limit losses on the benchmarks.
Global sentiment remained shaky after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed on Saturday to implement a wave of increasing tariffs from February 1 on eight European Union members until Washington is allowed to buy Greenland.
Thirteen of the 16 major sectors logged losses on the day. The small- and mid-caps fell 1% and 0.4%.
Among other stocks, RBL Bank and Yes Bank dropped 6.7% and 3%, while Federal Bank jumped 3.5% to a fresh record high after reporting its quarterly earnings.
Tech Mahindra rose 2.9% after surpassing third-quarter revenue expectations.
IndiGo jumped 4.2% after Jefferies said the $2.45 million fine imposed by India’s aviation regulator for last month’s mass flight cancellations appeared lower than feared.
Bharat Coking Coal, India’s largest coking coal miner, soared 76.4% in its market debut.
Comments