India's Sensex Declines for a Second Day as Capital Goods Drag

(Bloomberg) -- Indian shares fell for a second day, with the benchmark gauge dropping to its lowest in nearly two weeks as capital goods companies declined.

The benchmark Sensex index fell 0.2 percent to 30,301.64, while the NSE Nifty 50 Index dropped 0.3 percent to 9,360.55. Larsen & Toubro Ltd. was the worst performer on the Sensex, slipping the most in eight months. Tata Motors rose 4.2 percent, the most in six months, on profit improvement driven by its Jaguar Land Rover unit.

“Earnings of Indian companies so far have been mixed, and the street will cheer good results and stocks with bad numbers will be under pressure,” Jigar Shah, chief executive officer and head of research at Maybank Kim Eng Securities India Pvt. in Mumbai, said by phone. Investors are looking for “more good news” now and the Nifty will remain in the 9,200-9,500 range before the next trigger, he said.

Ten of the 13 sector gauges compiled by BSE Ltd. declined, led by the S&P BSE Capital Goods Index’s 2.6 percent drop. Wireless carrier Reliance Communications Ltd. dropped to a record low after a credit rating cut.

Summary

• Jubilant Life Sciences Ltd. +7% as it considers IPO for Singapore unit
• NCC Ltd. -8.5% after 4Q net income, revenue miss estimates
• Videocon Industries Ltd. -10%, extending 3-day decline to 41%; company says Dena Bank declared 5.2b rupees of its loan as non-performing assets
• Voltas Ltd. +8.9% as 4Q net income, revenue exceed estimates
• Lupin Ltd. -1.8%, pares losses as profit impacted by legal provision, forex

To contact the reporter on this story: Ameya Karve in Mumbai at akarve@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Divya Balji at dbalji1@bloomberg.net, Kurt Schussler, Todd White