Sensex hit by profit-taking ahead of earnings

The BSE Sensex fell on Friday, retreating from record highs hit in the previous session as blue chips such as Reliance Industries declined ahead of quarterly earnings and inflation data due next week.

Sentiment was also hit by a slide in global shares as steep falls in U.S. technology and biotechnology stocks spread to other sectors and regions.

After a week in which both the Sensex and Nifty hit record highs, investors are bracing for consumer inflation data due on Tuesday, the same day that Infosys is due to post quarterly earnings.

The events will provide a snapshot on the Indian economy, which many analysts say continues to struggle. Data on Friday showed the trade deficit widening to $10.51 billion in March from $8.13 billion in February on lower exports.

"The firm trend in the Sensex continued. The broad theme remained the same with domestic cyclicals outperforming the IT and FMCG sectors," said Dipen Shah, head of private client group research at Kotak Securities.

The benchmark BSE Sensex fell 0.38 per cent, or 86.37 points, to end at 22,628.96. The index rose 1.2 per cent for the week, marking its third consecutive weekly gain.

The broader Nifty lost 0.3 per cent, or 20.10 points, to end at 6,776.30, but gained 1.22 per cent for the week.

Indian equity, forex and debt markets will be closed on Monday for a local holiday.

Among blue-chips, Reliance Industries fell 1.6 per cent, while Larsen & Toubro ended 1.2 per cent lower.

Bank shares fell 0.8 per cent after a central bank panel recommended a slew of measures, including potentially changing how lending rates are set for the sector, raising worries about overall profitability.

ICICI Bank fell 0.9 per cent, while Axis Bank ended 0.5 per cent lower.

IndusInd Bank slid 4.3 per cent on caution ahead of its March-quarter earnings on Wednesday.

State Bank of India lost 1.7 per cent and Bank of Baroda fell 1.2 per cent.

Tata Motors fell 1.7 per cent after making an all-time high of Rs 437.80 after its unit Jaguar Land Rover's retail volumes for March came marginally below some analysts' estimates at 55,183 units.

Adani Enterprises slumped 6.8 per cent as investors chose to book profits after the stock rose 22.9 per cent on Thursday, marking its biggest single day percentage gain ever.

However among stocks that gained, Piramal Enterprises rose 6.2 per cent, adding to Thursday's 2.9 per cent gain after Britain's Vodafone said on Friday it had taken full ownership of Vodafone India by buying the 11 per cent it did not already own from the company.

Infosys gained 1.1 per cent ahead of its March-quarter earnings on Tuesday, while Tata Consultancy Services rose 1.8 per cent.

Also, Infosys said on Friday the company had started a search for chief executive S.D. Shibulal's successor and appointed Egon Zehnder to assist the nominations committee in identifying external candidates.

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014