WSJ: Indian Shares End Lower; Technology Stocks Drag On Rupee Concerns
MUMBAI (Dow Jones)--Indian shares ended lower for a second straight session, with technology stocks, financials and metals leading the losses as investors remained cautious ahead of quarterly corporate results.
The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-stock Sensitive Index fell 75.43 points, or 0.4%, to end at 17,540.29. The index, which gained 0.4% this week, traded between 17,508.96 and 17,658.12 during the day.
"We saw some profit-taking ahead of the weekend, but there's nothing to worry about at the moment," said Mehul Dedhia, associate vice president at domestic brokerage Sharekhan.
On the National Stock Exchange, the 50-stock S&P CNX Nifty lost 18.35 points, or 0.4%, to close at 5,244.75.
"The Sensex would likely wait for the quarterly results to come in and then move in line with the trend. The general feeling is that there could be a surprise in terms of on-year profit," said N. Sethuram Iyer, chief investment officer at Shinsei AMC.
If the surprise is very positive, then the index may try to re-rate itself, he added.
"The index has re-rated significantly over the past few months and for the next round of re-rating to happen, we need something to stimulate it. That, I presume is going to come from the quarterly results," he said.
Technology bellwether Infosys Technologies will be the first among major companies to report third-quarter results Jan. 12.
A Dow Jones Newswires technical analysis suggests the Sensex could trade between 16,900 and 18,100 next week.
Total traded volume on the BSE rose to INR63.04 billion from Thursday's INR61.74 billion. Gainers outnumbered decliners 1,724 to 1,174, while 67 stocks remained unchanged.
Software exporters, which get more than half their revenue from the U.S., remained weak on concerns that a stronger rupee versus the dollar could hurt results. Infosys Technologies slipped 2.4% to INR2,464.45 while Tata Consultancy Services fell 2.0% to INR700.50.
D.D. Sharma, vice president of research at Anand Rathi Financial Services, said the impact from a stronger rupee was a short-term blip.
"The companies will ultimately adjust the billing rate based on the foreign exchange rate," he added.
Financials continued to decline, with private lender ICICI Bank losing 1.3% to end at INR873.80 and mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp. ending 1.7% down at INR2,600.35.
Metals fell, hurt by muted global base metal prices. Copper producer Sterlite Industries dropped 1.0% to INR907.25, while aluminum producer Hindalco Industries slipped 1.0% to INR173.25.
However, property developer DLF jumped 4.3% to INR390.20 on fund buying, dealers said.
State-run power producer NTPC rose 1.2% to INR230.85, buoyed by news that the company's planned $1.5 billion follow-on public offering will open Feb. 3 and close Feb. 5.
