Sensex, Nifty fall on earnings season caution; all eyes on Infosys results

Indian shares fell on Wednesday, heading for the fourth session of fall in five, as investors exercised caution ahead of the start of the earnings season, while sentiment was also hit by geopolitical concerns. After hitting a record high of 9,273.90 points last week, the broader NSE index has fallen about 0.9 percent as investors wait for corporate results, with Infosys Ltd due to report on Thursday.

Global markets have also been under pressure over North Korea and Syria tensions, further sapping sentiment.

“Infosys results will start giving an indication of market behaviour. I think for this quarter, the market will remain slightly under pressure,” said RK Gupta, managing director, Taurus Asset Management Company, adding that geopolitical concerns also had an impact.

The broader NSE index was down 0.57 percent at 9,184.55 as of 0554 GMT, dragged down by financial and IT stocks. The benchmark BSE index was 0.55 percent lower at 29,623.94. The Nifty PSU Bank index, which had risen nearly 20 percent this year as of Tuesday’s close, was down 1.1 percent, poised to snap two consecutive sessions of gains.

Private sector lender ICICI Bank was the biggest drag on the NSE index, falling as much as 1.9 percent. Meanwhile, Vedanta Ltd gained as much as 3.9 percent and Cairn India Ltd rose up to 2.9 percent to its highest since Oct. 2, 2014, after Vedanta said on Tuesday it completed the buyout of Cairn India.

Shares of Petronet LNG Ltd touched a record high after Nomura analysts raised their price target on the stock to 510 rupees from 425 rupees, with a “buy” rating.

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National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE)