Sensex falls for second day; Tata Motors, Lupin hit by earnings

By Himank Sharma

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex retreated for a second straight session on Wednesday as drugmaker Lupin slumped after domestic revenue fell, while Tata Motors was hit after reporting a 23 percent drop in quarterly profit.

Weaker Asian shares also weighed after the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President, Charles Evans, said the U.S. central bank could scale back bond buying later this year and, depending on data, could do so next month.

Stocks have fallen in 10 of the last 11 trading sessions, as investors turn wary of slowing growth and the rupee that tumbled to a record low on Tuesday despite the RBI's cash-draining measures.

 

"We need to see what sort of policy measures the government will take to build confidence around the currency at this point, and there's some nervousness in the market about that," said Neelesh Surana, equities head at Mirae Asset Management.

The BSE Sensex fell 0.36 percent, while the Nifty dropped 0.42 percent.

Drugmaker Lupin dropped 6.68 percent after April-June domestic revenue fell 5 percent from a year earlier, with sales slowing at home as well as in Japan.

Tata Motors slid 3.01 percent after April-June net profit fell 23 percent from a year earlier, missing estimates.

Information technology companies fell as investors booked profits on recent gains from the weak rupee. HCL Technologies fell 4.01 percent, while Tata Consultancy Services dropped 2.53 percent and Infosys closed down 0.8 percent.

However, recent heavy losers such as Yes Bank , Bharat Heavy Electricals and Coal India gained on value-buying by some investors.

State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp ended 2.02 percent higher after Credit Suisse and Barclays upgraded the stock, citing valuations and upside to earnings.

(Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)