RTRS:Indian shares fall for second day; weak rupee stirs outflow worries
* BSE index falls 0.46 pct; NSE ends 0.68 pct lower
* FIIs sell index futures for fifth consecutive session
By Abhishek Vishnoi
MUMBAI, June 7 (Reuters) - Indian shares fell for a second
consecutive session on Friday to mark their lowest close in
almost a month as sustained fears that a weakening rupee would
lead foreign investors to pare positions hit blue chips such as
HDFC Bank Ltd.
Falls also tracked weakness in other Asian markets as the
MSCI Asia ex-Japan index fell to a six-month low
with investors fretting over U.S. jobs data due later in the
day.
The rupee weakened below 57 to the dollar,
depreciating more than 5.5 percent since the start of May, to
approach a record low hit about a year ago.
The rupee's weakness is likely to keep the market volatile
and could encourage further fund outflows, dealers said, noting
that foreign institutional investors sold about 50.5 billion
rupees of index futures in the last five trading sessions.
"Lack of other data points has resulted in rupee taking
centre seat in determining the direction of the equity markets,"
said Nagji K Rita, chairman and managing director of brokerage
Inventure Growth & Securities.
A fall in the rupee is always a concern for foreign
investors who are already holding a portfolio in India, added
Nagji.
The benchmark BSE index fell 0.46 percent, or 90.26
points, to 19,429.23, marking its lowest close since April 29
and ending 1.7 percent lower for the week.
The broader NSE index fell 0.68 percent, or 40.40
points, to 5,881, closing below the psychologically important
5,900 level and declining 1.8 percent for the week.
Blue chips fell with HDFC Bank dropping 0.9 percent and
Reliance Industries Ltd declining 1.1 percent on
continued fears that a falling rupee would lead foreign
investors to pare positions.
Reliance Communications Ltd ended 1.2 percent
lower even after striking a $2.1 billion telecoms tower pact
with Reliance Industries' telecommunications unit, Reliance Jio
Infocomm, as income from the said deal was seen as lower than
expectations, analysts said.
Reliance Industries will lease up to 45,000 mobile masts
from Reliance Communications in a deal valued at more than 120
billion rupees ($2.1 billion) over the lifetime of the contract,
the Indian companies said.
Tata Motors Ltd fell 1.6 percent on fears that
China could impose retaliatory trade duties on luxury cars
imported from the European Union may weigh on unit Jaguar Land
Rover Ltd's earnings outlook.
Titan Industries Ltd ended 1.7 percent down,
falling for a sixth consecutive session, as India increased
import duty on gold by a third to 8 percent on Wednesday, which
was seen hurting its earnings outlook.
India is the world's biggest buyer of bullion and the
government is seeking to halt a surge in demand that threatens
to widen a record current account deficit.
Future Retail Ltd fell 3.1 percent after the
government said foreign supermarkets entering India must invest
in new supply infrastructure, rather than buying existing
assets.
New rules requiring foreign supermarkets to set up their own
warehouses and stores in India are likely to further delay the
entry of companies like Wal-Mart Stores Inc, increase
costs and hurt cash-strapped local retailers eager to partner
with foreign companies.
However, among stocks that gained, software exporters rose
on value-buying and weak rupee, dealers said.
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd gained 3.3 percent,
while Wipro Ltd rose 1.5 percent and Infosys Ltd
ended 0.7 percent higher.