Indian shares are edging lower on Friday, in tandem with a weak trend across Asia as dismal U.S. data stoked global growth worries. Political uncertainty is also weighing on investor sentiment after Union ministers Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel reportedly resigned from the Cabinet aggrieved over a variety of issues.
Trading near its day's low, the benchmark 30-share Sensex is currently down 133 points or 0.77 percent at 17,146, while the broader Nifty index is down 39 points or 0.74 percent at 5,204.
Hero MotoCorp is down almost 2 percent on reporting a 10 percent rise in fist-quarter net profit, in line with analyst estimates. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories is tumbling 3.2 percent on disappointing results.
Reliance Industries is losing 1.2 percent as it sold its 80 percent stake in two exploration blocks in the Kurdistan region of Iraq to Chevron for an undisclosed amount.
Sun Pharma is down 0.3 percent after Israeli drugmaker Taro Pharma turned down its offer price for the outstanding shares it doesn't not already own, saying it was not in "the best interests of Taro's minority shareholders".
BHEL is edging down 0.2 percent and L&T is losing 0.9 percent after the Union Cabinet approved imposing higher duty on importer power generation equipment.
Telecom stocks are subdued ahead of a ministerial panel meeting today to discuss the contentious issue of 2G spectrum pricing. Bharti Airtel is down 0.7 percent, Idea Cellular is retreating 0.4 percent and Reliance Communication is edging down marginally.
Cadila Healthcare is down a percent after the company entered into a settlement and license agreement with Somaxon Pharmaceuticals Inc and ProCom One to settle a patent dispute. IOB is moving down 0.6 percent as the state-run lender said it needs Rs.1,500 crore capital infusion in the current fiscal year.
Maruti Suzuki is up 0.4 percent after the previous session's steep slide, although labor unrest continued at its Maruti's Manesar plant for a second day in a row. SAIL is gaining 0.6 percent after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved a proposal to divest a 10.82 percent stake in the steelmaker.
Benchmark indexes Sensex and the Nifty rose about half a percent each on Thursday, with IT stocks pacing the gainers after IBM and eBay posted better than expected quarterly earnings.
by RTT Staff Writer
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