By Bharath Rajeswaran
(Reuters) -India’s equity benchmarks fell in early trade on Friday, as profit-taking across sectors overpowered an improving corporate earnings outlook and expectations of progress in India–U.S. trade talks.
The Nifty 50 fell 0.47% to 25,390.4, while the BSE Sensex declined 0.48% to 82,904.17 as of 9:51 a.m. IST.
All 16 major sectors logged losses at the open. The broader small-caps and mid-caps declined 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively.
Bharti Airtel lost 4% after a report that a unit of Singapore Telecommunications offered to sell shares in the telecom company worth $1.18 billion at a 3.1% discount to the closing price on Thursday. Airtel’s shares changed hands in multiple blocks at a discount, data compiled by LSEG showed.
A WEEK OF LOSSES
India’s Nifty and the Sensex have both fallen about 1.5% so far this week, cooling off after a 4.5% rise in October.
“Sentiment has turned fragile due to profit booking and persistent pessimism and foreign outflows,” said Prashanth Tapse, senior vice president of research at Mehta Equities.
“Concerns over delay in U.S. rate cuts due to rising services inflation further dampened mood, offsetting lingering hopes for a positive outcome from U.S.-India trade talks.”
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday his talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were going well and that he would be visiting the South Asian country, as negotiations over trade continued.
Among individual stocks, Amber Enterprises tumbled 12.5% after reporting a net loss in the September quarter due to weakness in the consumer durables segment. Crompton Greaves Consumer Electrics fell 2% after posting a drop in profit as sales of cooling equipment took a hit.
Bucking the trend, drugmaker Lupin gained 1.3% and insurer Life Insurance Corporation of India advanced 1%, after reporting a rise in their quarterly profits.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru, editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
