Indian shares ended weak on Friday, drifting down for the fifth consecutive session, as mostly disappointing quarterly results, persisting tensions in the Middle East, and anxiety over the impending U.S. election rendered the mood cautious and prevented investors from engaging in any significant buying.
The BSE benchmark Sensex ended down 662.87 points or 0.83% at 79,402.29, after having climbed nearly 200 points to 80,253.19 in early trades.
The broader Nifty50 index of the National Stock Exchange, which advanced to 24,440.25 early on in the session, settled at 24,180.90, down 218.60 points or 0.9% from the previous close.
Automobile, bank, consumer durables, metal, media and realty stocks were among the major losers. FMCG stocks found some support, while IT and healthcare stocks turned in a mixed performance.
IndusInd Bank tumbled 18.6% after the lender reported a sharp 39% slump in second-quarter net profit to Rs 1,325.45 crore, from the year-ago quarter.
M&M, Larsen & Toubro and NTPC lost 3.1 to 4%. Adani Ports, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Steel, Titan, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India, Tata Motors and JSW Steel closed down 1.6 to 2.8%.
Adani Enterprises and BPCL both ended nearly 4% down. Shriram Finance, Coal India, HeroMoto Corp, Tata Consumer Products, Titan Industris, Hindalco, Grasim Industries and Trent also closed sharply lower.
Tech Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries and Infosys too ended weak.
ITC climbed about 2.2% thanks to a marginal jump in second-quarter earnings. Axis Bank ended 1.7% up, while Hind Unilever gained nearly 1%. Bharat Electronics Limited and Britannia Industries also closed notably higher.
VST Industries tanked nearly 10%, weighed down by a sharp drop in second-quarter earnings. Shriram Properties, Radico Khaitan and Mahanagar Gas also declined on weak results.
Kirloskar Pneumatic soared nearly 10% after reporting a whopping 235% surge in second-quarter earnings. Godrej Consumer Products and Nippon Life also moved up sharply on strong earnings.
The market breadth was very weak with declines far outnumbering advances. On BSE, 3,215 stocks closed weak, while just 738 stocks moved higher. 68 stocks closed flat.