B4U India: Indian shares fall 2 pct, emergency rattles Karachi

Indian shares fall 2 pct, emergency rattles Karachi
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reuters india on 05 November, 2007 03:42:00
 
By Sumeet Chatterjee
BANGALORE (Reuters) - Indian shares fell nearly 2 percent to its lowest close
in a week on Monday, taking cue from world markets that fell after Citigroup
said it may write off $11 billion of subprime mortgage losses.
No. 2 lender ICICI Bank fell 4.5 percent to 1,270.85 rupees, reflecting the
weak sentiment for financials, while HDFC Bank lost 2.3 percent to 1,718
rupees.
In neighbouring Pakistan, Karachi's 100-share index dropped 4.6 percent to
13,279.60, its lowest close in more than a month, rocked by the emergency rule
imposed on Saturday by military ruler President Pervez Musharraf.
India's 30-share BSE index ended down 1.93 percent, or 385.45 points, at
19,590.78, after having fallen as much as 2.4 percent during trade. Twenty-six
of the components were in the negative zone.
The benchmark is 3.3 percent off its record high of 20,238.16 hit on Oct. 30.
"Global worry about problems in the credit markets led to the correction in
Indian markets," said Viral Doshi, an independent technical and derivatives
strategist. "In the short-term, the correction will continue."
The index had risen 14.7 percent in October, its biggest monthly gain in almost
four years.
At its peak of 20,009.35 on Monday, it was up about 28 percent since the U.S.
Federal Reserve's rate cut in September that led to foreign fund flows of $8
billion into Indian shares.
Data showed foreign portfolio investors were net buyers of shares worth $44.8
million on Thursday, taking their net investments to more than $17 billion so
far this year, well above a full-year record of $10.7 billion in 2005.
Mumbai brokerage India Infoline said the markets would closely track trends
overseas and foreign fund inflows.
"At the moment, there are uncertainties over both these factors. Only time will
decide how things will play out on these fronts," it said.
Shares in engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro dropped nearly 4
percent to 4,287.30 rupees as investors took gains in the stock that rose
nearly 51 percent last month, sharply outperforming the main index.
Bharti Airtel, the top mobile operator, rose 5.3 percent to 942.20 rupees after
the stock fell more than 11 percent in the previous two sessions on concerns
about allocation of additional spectrum.
The trend was positive in the broader market with 1,401 gainers outpacing 1,307
losers on volume of 485 million shares.
The broader NSE index ended down 1.43 percent at 5,847.30 points.
Elsewhere in Asia, Colombo's All-share index edged down 0.47 percent at
2,631.88.
STOCKS THAT MOVED
* Drug maker Cipla Ltd rose as much as 3.7 percent before ending up 1.8 percent
at 176.80 rupees after it received tentative approval from the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration for cetirizine hydrochloride tablets used for alergic
rhinitis.
* Prime Securities Ltd gained 7.4 percent to 177.35 rupees after its board
approved a share buyback proposal at up to 225 rupees a share.
* Hotel Leelaventure Ltd ended nearly 9 percent higher at 50.10 rupees after
the Times of India newspaper reported the firm has finalised a private equity
investment of 50 billion rupees and the investor may be Blackstone.
Leela declined to comment on the report in a statement to the stock exchange.
TOP 3 BY VOLUME
* Reliance Natural Resources Ltd on 79.7 million shares
* Reliance Petroleum Ltd on 31.8 million shares
* Jaiprakash Hydro Power Ltd on 17 million shares