India Stocks: Britannia, foreign selling weigh on Indian shares

Britannia Life Sciences

12/11/2024 10:41

(Updates with closing levels)
    By Hritam Mukherjee
       Nov 12 (Reuters) - Indian shares fell for the fourth
straight session on Tuesday, dragged down by losses in Britannia
 BRIT.NS  after it missed quarterly profit expectations and on
persistent foreign selling.
    The NSE Nifty 50  .NSEI  was down 1.07% at 23,883.45 points
as of 3:30 p.m. IST, while the BSE Sensex  .BSESN  fell 1.03% to
78,675.18.
    The benchmarks opened the session higher before swinging
between gains and losses.
    The MSCI India index  .MIIN00000PIN , meanwhile, was down
more than 10% from its Sept. 27 peak, which confirms the index
is in a correction due to continuous outflows from Indian
equities.
    "Negative surprises from the disappointing second-quarter
earnings continue to keep markets on edge. That, combined with
persistent foreign outflows, has dampened sentiment of
participants," said Ajit Mishra, senior vice president of
research at Religare Broking. 
    The Nifty has shed 9.1% from its record high on Sept. 27.
Foreign investors have pulled out nearly $14 billion from
domestic stocks since the start of October. 
    "We expect the foreign sell-off to persist till the end of
2024," said Aishvarya Dadheech, founder and CEO of Fident Asset
Management.
    On the day, eleven of the 13 major sectors retreated. 
    Biscuit-maker Britannia dropped 7.5%, the most on the Nifty,
after missing second-quarter profit estimates. 
    HDFC Bank  HDBK.NS  - the heaviest stock on the Nifty - shed
2.7%. 
    Hyundai India  HYUN.NS  ended 1% lower after the country's
No.2 carmaker by market share reported a lower quarterly profit.
  
    The broader, more domestically-focussed small-  .NIFSMCP100 
and mid-caps  .NIFMDCP100  shed 1.3% and 1.1%, respectively.
        Meanwhile, India's annual retail inflation  INCPIY=ECI 
in October accelerated to 6.21% from 5.49% in the previous
month, government data released on Tuesday showed.
  
        A Reuters poll of 45 economists had projected retail
inflation at 5.81%.
  

 (Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi
Aich, Savio D'Souza and Sonia Cheema)
 ((Hritam.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com; X: @MukherjeeHritam;))