(Bloomberg) -- Indian equities fell, headed for their fifth weekly loss in six in a holiday-shortened week, as investors mulled the outlook for company earnings and economic growth.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex dropped 0.6% to 37,090.97 as of 10:15 a.m. in Mumbai, set for a weekly loss of 1.3%. The NSE Nifty 50 Index declined 0.6%. Markets were closed on Monday and Thursday for holidays. Shares in HDFC Bank Ltd. and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. were the biggest drags on the benchmark.
A regional equities benchmark is on course for a fourth-straight week of losses as investors assessed the prospects of a global economic slowdown and prolonged trade tensions between China and the U.S.
Strategist View
- Valuations have become more reasonable but the threat of further earnings downgrades, uncertain global and domestic macroeconomic conditions and “super-high multiples” of consumer stocks “reduce the investment appeal of the Indian market,” Kotak Institutional Equities analysts led by Sanjeev Prasad wrote in a note.
- Eighteen of 19 sector sub-indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. declined, led by a gauge of metal stocks.
- Vedanta Ltd. was the top loser on the benchmark, dropping 3.%. Yes Bank Ltd. rose the most, adding 1.5%. The lender said it raised 19.3 billion rupees ($271 million) in a placement to investors.
- Twenty-seven out of 31 stocks in the Sensex index declined.
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