Sensex falls on weak European cues; PNB down 5% post Q2 nos

Indian shares remained under pressure due to weak global cues. European markets opened lower on weak corporate earnings; France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were down 0.4-0.5 percent. Even the Dow Jones, Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures fell 0.5-0.7 percent.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 109.45 points to 18,649.18 and the 50-share NSE Nifty slipped 34.25 points to 5,671.05.

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank was flat to positive after higher-than-expected numbers in the second quarter of FY13. However, its rivals State Bank of India and HDFC Bank were down 0.6 percent.

Public sector lender Punjab National Bank plunged 5 percent after its net profit fell by 11.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,065 crore in the July-September quarter of current financial year 2012-13 due to higher non-performing assets.

Mahindra & Mahindra retained its top position in the buying list, rising over 2 percent after good numbers in Q2. FMCG major Hindustan Unilever rose 0.6 percent ahead of second quarter numbers today.

Commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors, state-owned power equipment manufacturer BHEL and two-wheeler major Hero Motocorp gained 0.6 percent.

Shares of Reliance Industries, ITC and HDFC tanked 1.5-1.8 percent. Pharma majors Cipla, Dr Reddy's Labs and Sun Pharma lost 1-2 percent.

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel fell 1.26 percent and state-run oil & gas producer ONGC slipped 0.85 percent.