Indian shares slip

Indian shares fell 1 percent on Friday to post their first weekly fall in four as Axis Bank slumped after it posted disappointing results, dragging down other lenders. The broader NSE index closed down 1.02 percent at 8349.35, while the benchmark BSE index ended down 1 percent at 27,034.50.
The NSE index slipped around 0.6 percent for the week, while the BSE dropped 0.7 percent.
Axis Bank ended down 6.83 percent.
Broader sentiment was also subdued even after China's fourth-quarter economic growth beat expectations and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen took a less hawkish policy stance.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.2 percent, and looked set to end the week 0.1 percent lower.
"From the viewpoint of probability, I feel the downside probability is more than upside because factors that pertain to the latter have already been discounted," said Madhumita Ghosh, head of Corporate Solutions Victory Inc.
If India does not see proper growth in the coming times, then markets may fall further, she added. Financial stocks accounted for most of the falls on Friday, with Axis Bank shedding as much as 6.4 percent in its biggest percentage drop in nearly two-and-a-half months after reporting a 73 percent plunge in its December-quarter profit.
Axis Bank shares were trading at two times their 30-day average volume. Among other losers, ICICI Bank was down 1.89 percent while Infosys Ltd fell as much as 1.26 percent to its lowest since November 25, 2016. Telecom stocks were among the top gainers with Idea Cellular up 2.96 percent and Bharti Airtel 2.37 percent higher. ITC Ltd rose up to 0.6 percent to its highest since November 8, while Hindustan Unilever Ltd was up 0.5 percent.