By Bharath Rajeswaran and Hritam Mukherjee
(Reuters) -Indian shares closed lower on Monday, as lacklustre earnings and another bout of profit-booking overpowered a post-results rally in top private lender HDFC Bank.
The NSE Nifty 50 fell 0.29% to 24,781.1, while the BSE Sensex settled 0.09% lower at 81,151.27 points. They swung between gains of about 0.4% near the open to a drop of roughly 0.7% mid-session, before recovering slightly.
HDFC Bank, the heaviest-weighted stock on the Nifty, rose 2.8% after posting September-quarter earnings above expectations. It helped lift the financials sector about 0.1% higher.
But most other sectoral indexes logged losses and 37 Nifty 50 constituents declined as the largely disappointing quarterly earnings season continued.
Kotak Mahindra Bank lost 4.4%, while RBL Bank tumbled 14.2% after a jump in bad loans hurt their second-quarter profit and margins.
Tata Consumer Products shed 7% after its core margins fell short of most analysts’ estimates.
UltraTech Cement fell 1.8% after posting a bigger-than-expected drop in quarterly profit as prices fell to near five-year lows.
“If corporate earnings in the September quarter fail to match the high valuations, we may see either a price or time correction, especially in the broader markets,” said Krishna Appala, senior research analyst at Capitalmind Research.
The Nifty 50 gained about 15% in the last four months, helped by policy continuity and macroeconomic stability.
However, since hitting a record high on Sept. 27, it has shed 5.7%, largely due to profit booking and the exodus of foreign funds from India to China.
“With an interplay of sustained foreign outflows and lacklustre earnings season, profit booking could continue further,” said Feroze Azeez, deputy chief executive officer at Anand Rathi Wealth.
The broader, more domestically focused small- and mid-caps fell 1.5% and 1.7%, respectively.
Among the bright spots, IT major Tech Mahindra also rose about 1% after reporting higher quarterly revenue.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Savio D’Souza)
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