Indian shares off to a muted start; Hindustan Unilever drops on profit miss
Updates at 9:18 a.m. IST
Oct 24 (Reuters) -Indian shares were off to a muted starton 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 .NSEI was 0.01% higher at 24,440.8 points as of 9:18 a.m. IST, while S&P BSE Sensex .BSESN inched up 0.12% to 80,182.32.
The Nifty 50 has lost 1.7% in the threesessions this week and is down about 6% since hitting a record high on Sept. 17, dragged downby foreign selling and largely lacklustre earnings.
Hindustan Unilever HLL.NS dropped 4% after the Dovesoap maker posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly profiton Wednesday, hurt by a slowdown in urban markets and higher costs. FMCG index .NIFTYFMCG 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 .MIAPJ0000PUS 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 straightsession 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- .NIFSMCP100 and mid-caps .NIFMDCP100 gained 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively.
Among individual stocks,AU Small Finance Bank AUFI.NS rose 3% after posting a higher net profit in the Septemberquarter.
Dr. Lal Pathlabs DLPA.NS jumped 3.7% afterreporting a bigger-than-expected profit in the Septemberquarter on demand for medical tests.
($1 = 84.0730 Indian rupees)
Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
