By Bharath Rajeswaran and Hritam Mukherjee
(Reuters) -Indian shares fell on Thursday, weighed down by consumer stocks after major Hindustan Unilever posted a smaller-than-expected second-quarter profit, while aluminium maker Hindalco fell on a weak demand outlook and dragged metal stocks lower.
The NSE Nifty 50 fell 0.12% at 24,407.35 points as of 10:25 a.m. IST, while the BSE Sensex shed 0.1% to 80,008.
The Nifty 50 has lost 1.7% in the previous three sessions this week and is down about 7% since hitting a record high on Sept. 27, dragged by foreign selling and largely lacklustre earnings.
“Investor mindset has turned gloomy with the tepid earnings and a knee-jerk reaction from foreign investors, which has hurt the market sentiment,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Indian shares for the eighteenth straight session on Wednesday, redirecting funds to China on stimulus measures and relatively cheaper valuations.
Hindustan Unilever fell 5.5%, eyeing its worst session in nine months, after the Dove soap maker posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, hurt by a slowdown in urban markets and higher costs.
The FMCG index fell 2% and was the top sectoral loser by percentage.
Hindalco Industries dropped 5.9% and was the top loser in the metal index, which fell 0.3%.
“Hindalco is losing on the day, as fears spill over from rival Constellium’s downbeat forecast, where it flagged challenges increasing on macroeconomic front, impacting demand across most end markets,” Tushar Chaudhuri, a research analyst with Prabhudas Lilladher said.
Five of the 13 major sectors logged losses. The broader, more domestically focused small and mid-caps rose 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively.
Among individual stocks, AU Small Finance Bank rose 2.25% after posting a higher net profit in the September quarter.
Aster DM Healthcare jumped 11.2% to a record high after posting a net profit in the September quarter compared to a loss a year ago.
($1 = 84.0730 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Abinaya Vijayaraghavan)
