WSJ:Indian Shares End Lower for Second Straight Session; Rupee Down
By Gurdev Singh Virk
MUMBAI--Indian shares closed lower for the second straight session Wednesday as traders continued to take profits in select blue chip names after the markets hit a record high earlier this week.
The Bombay Stock Exchange's S&P BSE Sensex index ended 0.4% lower at 21171.41 points, following a 0.3% decline Tuesday. The 30-stock index had closed at an all-time high of 21326.42 Monday as the country's main opposition party's strong performance in recent state polls spurred hopes for a market-friendly shift in the capital.
Investors and analysts widely perceive the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party as more business-friendly and growth-oriented than the current ruling Congress-led coalition government. The state election results gave investors optimism that the BJP and its allies could take over the national government during federal elections, which are scheduled to take place by May 2014.
The National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty closed down 0.4% at 6307.90 points, adding to a 0.5% decline last session. It had also closed at a new record of 6363.90 on Dec. 9.
"Markets consolidated further. Trading volumes was low, as investors were cautious ahead of the release of monthly consumer inflation and industrial output data Thursday," said Nidhi Saraswat, a senior research analyst at Mumbai-based Bonanza Portfolio Ltd.
The median estimate in a poll of 16 economists shows the industrial production index likely contracted 1.1% on year in October, which would mark the first decline in four months. It had risen 2.0% in September. Economists expect November retail inflation to remain near 10%, little changed from 10.09% in October.
Trading volume on the BSE cash market was 17.49 billion rupees, lower than Tuesday's 21.86 billion rupees.
Eleven of the Bombay Stock Exchange's 12 sector indexes closed lower. The capital goods and auto indexes were among the major losers, down 1.4% and 1.1% respectively.
Top construction company Larsen & Toubro declined 1.8% to 1,080.80 rupees, adding to a 4% fall last session.
Among other key losers, Tata Motors--the owner of luxury car brand Jaguar and Land Rover--fell 3.3% to 377.80 rupees and software exporter Tata Consultancy--India's biggest company by market value--ended down 1.2% at 2,056.55 rupees.
The rupee ended lower against the U.S. dollar on demand for the greenback from oil retailers. In local spot-market trading Wednesday, a dollar was buying 61.25 rupees compared with 61.04 rupees at Tuesday's close.
