BSE Sensex edges lower amid weak earnings reports

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex and Nifty edged lower on Friday, heading for their second consecutive day of falls, as ICICI Bank and Larsen and Toubro declined on caution ahead of their April-June results next week amid a weak earnings season so far.

Lack of any concrete progress on key reforms including goods and services tax in the ongoing session of parliament also dampened investor appetite for risk.

Falls also tracked lower Asian equities, which stumbled on Friday after a survey showed China's manufacturing activity crumbled to 15-month lows, rekindling concerns for the region's exports as the world's second-largest economy struggles to arrest a broad downturn.

 

"Market is certainly not very comfortable with the kind of activities which are happening in parliament, of no decisions, adjournments," Deven Choksey, managing director, KR Choksey Securities said.

The BSE Sensex was down 0.27 percent, while the Nifty was down 0.22 percent, with both indexes set to close 0.5 percent lower for the week.

Selling in blue-chips weighed down the index. ICICI Bank fell 2.3 percent while Larsen and Toubro lost down 0.7 percent, struggled as well.

Shares of Wipro Ltd , India's third-biggest software services exporter, fell about 4 percent after the company reported its quarterly earnings on Thursday that were largely in-line with estimates.

Reliance Industries' stock was down 0.55 percent. The company will announce quarterly results later in the day.

However, financial services company IDFC jumped over 6 percent on getting a banking licence from the Reserve Bank of India.

(Reporting by Karen Rebelo; Editing by Anand Basu)