Sensex ends 163 pts down on weak earnings; SBI, ONGC plunge

Indian shares fell 0.9 percent on Friday with NSE Nifty closing below the 5700 level due to steep fall in State Bank of India, ONGC and Tata Steel following their dismal performance in the second quarter. The fall in global markets too added pressure on the market.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 162.58 points to close at 18,683.68, weighed down majorly by banks, oil & gas exploration, capital goods and metals. In fact, all BSE indices closed in the red.

Meanwhile, the 50-share NSE Nifty lost 52.50 points to 5,686.25.

Shares of Tata Steel, the world’s sixth largest steel making company, dropped 3.25 percent on weak operational performance on standalone as well as consolidated basis. Consolidated (including Tata Steel Europe (earlier Corus)) net loss was Rs 364 crore for the second quarter as against profit of Rs 212.4 crore in a year ago period. Standalone EBITDA margin fell quite significantly to 26.5 percent as against 33.5 percent YoY.

Country’s largest lender State Bank of India played a spoilsport as the stock fell 3.89 percent. Fresh slippages and restructured loans increased much higher compared to the street expectations, even the net interest income came in lower than forecast.

State-controlled oil & gas producer ONGC was down over 3 percent as its net profit fell 3 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 5,896 crore in the second quarter of FY13, impacted largely by a discount of Rs 7,103 crore given to oil marketing companies.

Private sector lender ICICI Bank went down 1.5 percent while its rival HDFC Bank and housing finance company HDFC outperformed other bluechips both closed flat to positive.

Software services exporters Infosys and Wipro lost 1 percent each. Commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors was down 1% too.

State-owned power equipment maker BHEL tumbled 2 percent while engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro was down 0.8 percent. Shares of Sterlite Industries dropped over 2 percent.

In the second line shares, Manappuram Finance crashed 14 percent as its net interest margin fell 270 basis points YoY in Q2FY13.

Shipping Corporation of India rallied 4 percent as the company reported a profit of Rs 297 crore in the second quarter as against loss of Rs 140 crore in a year ago period.

Ashok Leyland and SREI Infrastructure were up 6-7 percent following quarterly earnings.

Telecom operator Idea Cellular rose 3 percent today and over 8 percent in the week.

United Breweries group stocks remained in bull grip following the much awaited deal between UB group and UK-based Diageo for stake sale in United Spirits that gained over 1 percent

UB Holdings gained 3.34 percent while United Breweries was up 0.4 percent. Kingfisher Airlines surged 5 percent.

The broader markets too were down in-line with benchmarks; the BSE Midcap Index was down 1 percent and Smallcap fell 0.7 percent.

Declining shares outnumbered advancing by a ratio of 981 to 459 on the National Stock Exchange.

For the week, the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty closed marginally lower.

On the global front, Hang Seng and Nikkei lost 0.9 percent each, weighed down by worries over the risk of a recession in the world's largest economy as the United States faces a looming fiscal crisis, while Europe still awaits a bailout for Greece, keeping investor risk appetite subdued. Shanghai was down 0.12 percent. (with inputs from Reuters)