(Reuters) -Indian shares were off to a muted start on Thursday, as dull earnings and persistent foreign selling weighed, while consumer major Hindustan Unilever fell on smaller-than-expected September quarter profit.
The NSE Nifty 50 was 0.01% higher at 24,440.8 points as of 9:18 a.m. IST, while S&P BSE Sensex inched up 0.12% to 80,182.32.
The Nifty 50 has lost 1.7% in the three sessions this week and is down about 6% since hitting a record high on Sept. 17, dragged down by foreign selling and largely lacklustre earnings.
Hindustan Unilever dropped 4% after the Dove soap maker posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, hurt by a slowdown in urban markets and higher costs. FMCG index fell 1.5% and was the top sectoral loser by percentage.
“Bears continue to assert control as intraday bounces are consistently sold off,” said Rajesh Bhosale, equity analyst at Angel One.
Asian markets opened lower, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index dropping 0.3%. Wall Street equities settled lower overnight amid investors’ reluctance to place major bets ahead of the U.S. presidential election. [MKTS/GLOB]
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Indian shares for the eighteenth straight session on Wednesday, redirecting funds to China on stimulus measures and relatively cheaper valuations.
Ten of the 13 major sectors logged losses. The broader, more domestically focused small- and mid-caps gained 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively.
Among individual stocks, AU Small Finance Bank rose 3% after posting a higher net profit in the September quarter.
Dr. Lal Pathlabs jumped 3.7% after reporting a bigger-than-expected profit in the September quarter on demand for medical tests.
($1 = 84.0730 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy)
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