Sensex declines; Dr. Reddy's, ICICI Bank fall on weak quarter

By Samantha Kareen Nair

REUTERS - The NSE Nifty took a breather on Friday after hitting record highs in each of the previous four sessions, as disappointing quarterly earnings weighed on bank and pharmaceutical shares.

The index is up 0.63 percent for the week, heading for its fourth consecutive weekly gain. It crossed the key 10,000-point mark for the first time on Tuesday.

"It is only general profit-booking, because the NSE (index) crossed the psychological level earlier in the week and (there has been) a run up in stocks within a short span of time," said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice-president of research at SMC Global Securities.

 

The Nifty was down 0.32 percent at 9,988.40. The benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.42 percent lower at 32,248.27, but was still 0.70 percent higher for the week.

"At this stage, the market needs a breather and some amount of price correction is natural."

Dr. Reddy's, down as much as 6.5 percent at its lowest since May 30, was the biggest drag on the index. The drugmaker's quarterly profit more than halved as it was hit by regulatory hurdles and pricing pressures in the United States.

ICICI Bank Ltd fell about 3 percent after the country's third biggest lender by assets posted an 8 percent drop in first-quarter profit.

Idea Cellular Ltd also declined after reporting a third straight quarterly loss on Thursday. The stock was down about 5.6 percent.

But cigarettes-to-biscuits maker ITC Ltd gained about 2 percent on strong quarterly numbers.

(Reporting by Samantha Kareen Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Vyas Mohan)