Indian shares fell for the sixth session in a row on Tuesday, their longest losing run in a year, as rate rise concerns continued to rattle investors, who were also sceptical of quarterly earnings that begin this week. Feeble attempts to pull out of the slide failed to hold and the market dropped to its lowest close in six weeks, taking losses since the start of the new year to 6.4 percent. Volume was relatively light and trading choppy.
The 30-share BSE index ended down 0.14 percent or 27.78 points at 19,196.34, after rising as much as 1.1 percent early and then falling more than 1 percent at one stage. The 50-share NSE index slipped 0.2 percent to 5,754.10 points. Fourteen of its components closed in the red. Software services majors shed the most as investors locked in profits after a big run up in 2010.
Infosys Technologies, which kick starts the earnings season on Thursday, shed nearly 2 percent after the bellwether had gained almost a third in 2010. Bigger rival Tata Consultancy Services shed 2.6 percent, while Wipro bucked the trend and firmed 0.9 percent.
Export-driven outsourcers are expected to report robust growth in quarterly earnings and a firm outlook, driven by an expected increase in clients' technology budgets. A Reuters poll showed Infosys should report a 15.1 percent rise in December quarter profit from year ago. Financials, which had taken a beating on rate worries, pulled back. The banking sector index gained 1.2 percent, after declining 7.5 percent over previous sessions. Leading lenders State Bank of India and ICICI Bank gained 2.5 percent and 0.9 percent respectively.