Most stocks decline as ICICI falls

Most stocks dropped, with the benchmark gauge erasing an advance in the last hour of trade, as energy and health care companies retreated.

ICICI Bank, the biggest private lender, declined the most in a week. GAIL India, the largest natural gas supplier, fell for a second day after its profit missed estimates. Reliance Industries, owner of the world's largest oil-refining complex, retreated for the first time in five days. Tata Motors, the owner of Jaguar Land Rover, rallied to a four-month high, while Coal India increased for a third day.

About three stocks dropped for every two that rose on the BSE Sensex, which slid 0.1 per cent to nearly 26,553 at the close after climbing as much as 0.8 per cent earlier. The gauge has declined in seven of the eight trading sessions, as earnings of some biggest companies trailed estimates. Sales at Sensex firms that have posted September quarter results so far have declined 12 per cent from a year earlier even as profits have risen 2.4 per cent, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

"The earnings season has not helped and some of the key results are still to come," Alex Mathews, head of research at Geojit BNP, said by phone from the southern state of Kerala. "Besides, no one wants to keep their position open ahead of Bihar election verdict. There are uncertainties and no positive triggers."

The Bihar elections are important for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to control the upper house of parliament, where opposition parties have blocked major economic proposals including a nationwide sales tax. A win would give him momentum in about a dozen more state elections through 2017 that will determine control of the body. The results are due on Sunday.

GAIL India fell 2.1 per cent. The company said after market hours on Tuesday that second-quarter profit slumped 66 per cent from a year earlier to Rs 441 crore ($67 million). That missed the Rs 520-crore median estimate by analysts.

ICICI Bank retreated 2.2 per cent. Reliance Industries slid 1.6 per cent, ending four days of advance. Tata Motors surged six per cent, reducing this year's loss to 17 per cent. Coal India added 1.4 per cent.

International investors sold a net $57 million of Indian equities on Tuesday Foreign funds bought $907 million of local stocks in October, after pulling $2.6 billion in the September quarter, as central banks maintained monetary stimulus and financial-market reform in China assuaged some concerns over the outlook for the world's second-biggest economy.

The Sensex is valued at 15.6 times projected 12-month earnings, compared with the MSCI Emerging Markets Index's multiple of 11.5.