By Bharath Rajeswaran
(Reuters) -Indian shares settled lower on Wednesday, succumbing to another bout of profit booking in the final hour of trading following strong gains earlier in the session after the central bank eased its stance on monetary policy.
The Nifty 50 index ended 0.12% lower at 24,981.95, while the S&P BSE Sensex shed 0.21% to finish at 81,467.10.
The indexes jumped about 0.8% earlier in the day after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept interest rates unchanged, as expected, but shifted its policy stance to “neutral”, opening the door for rate cuts as early as December.
The rate-sensitive financials added 0.4%, while real estate stocks jumped 2.15% and auto companies rose 0.8%.
However, much like in the past week, investors chose to book profits as the fears over the Middle East conflict and foreign funds outflows are exacerbated by some disappointing corporate financial updates ahead of the upcoming earnings season.
“It is likely that earnings growth in the September quarter will be modest. On average, results for the quarter are likely to reflect some moderation in margins,” said Ramesh Mantri, chief investment officer at WhiteOak Capital Asset Management.
“Concerns over earnings have already led to some profit booking and could trigger further bouts over the next few weeks, with valuations also looking stretched.”
Consumer stocks tumbled 1.57%, falling for the seventh time in eight sessions, after the RBI flagged that inflation was still a concern, adding to worries after some disappointing corporate financial updates.
Energy stocks shed 0.8% amid a global drop in commodities. [MKTS/GLOB]
The Nifty losers were led by consumer companies such as ITC, Nestle India, Hindustan Unilever and energy firms like Reliance and ONGC.
In the bright spots, Divi’s Laboratories jumped 8% and led pharma stocks 2% higher after Citi gave it a “buy” rating.
State Bank of India rose 2% after Nomura called it its top sectoral pick.
The broader, more domestically-focussed small- and mid-caps rose 1.3% and 1%, respectively.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng, Mrigank Dhaniwala and Savio D’Souza)
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