By Jessica Kuruthukulangara
(Reuters) - Indian shares edged down on Friday after two straight sessions of gains as investors booked profit in stocks such as Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd, while worries over trade relations ahead of a key meeting of global leaders weighed on investor sentiment as well.
Asian shares also fell as risk appetite soured on bets that Europe's massive monetary stimulus was nearing an end.
"Last week, we saw strong grubbing in the indexes and mid-cap space after which there was a bounce-back. Now, the markets are back to normal, with some kind of profit-booking post yesterday's gains," said Siddharth Sedani, vice president - head equity advisory at Anand Rathi.
"Global factors are definitely in play and volatility will likely persist."
The broader NSE Nifty was down 0.37 percent at 10,728.75 as of 0604 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.35 percent lower at 35,337.22. Both indexes were on track to post their third consecutive weekly gain.
HDFC and Larsen & Toubro Ltd were among the top drag on both indexes, dropping as much as 1.1 percent each.
Oil marketing firms Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd fell, hurt by higher oil prices on Venezuela's supply struggles and ongoing output cuts led by OPEC.
The Nifty pharma index rose as much as 2.9 percent, but looked set to post a weekly gain, its second in three weeks.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd jumped 5.7 percent, while Dr.Reddy's Laboratories Ltd rose 3.3 percent. Both stocks led gains on the NSE index.
Shriram EPC Ltd climbed as much as 10.5 percent after the construction engineering firm posted strong March-quarter results on Thursday.
Shares of Housing finance companies have been correcting on margin concerns due to rising bond yields, according to brokerage firm Jefferies.
(Reporting by Jessica Kuruthukulangara in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
