Indian shares fall

India's main stock indexes fell on Friday, ending the week with mild losses, led by lenders such as ICICI after a central bank panel recommended tightening regulations on loan restructuring, including setting aside higher provisions. Power equipment makers such as Bharat Heavy Electricals were hit by profit-taking, despite the government's proposal to impose duties on some imports as the action was widely expected.
Stock investors are gearing up for a busy next week, as a slew of companies, including cigarette maker ITC report April-June earnings. Thursday also marks the monthly expiry of derivatives. Perhaps more importantly, investors are hoping the government will start to announce long-stalled policy reforms, including allowing foreign investment into the retail or aviation sectors, after presidential elections results are announced on Sunday.
The progress of rainfalls during the monsoon season will also be critical, with a continued shortfall likely to raise worries about rural consumption and higher food prices that could spur inflation. "The government has no choice now: it has to initiate reforms mainly because of the recent rating downgrades, a falling rupee, stagnating manufacturing sector and a weak monsoon," said G. Chokkalingam, Executive Director & Chief Investment Officer at Centrum Wealth Management. The 30-share BSE index fell 0.7 percent to 17,158.44 points. The index lost 0.3 percent for the week.
The 50-share NSE index declined 0.72 percent to end at 5,205.10 points, posting a 0.4 percent loss for the week. Indian shares have fallen this month, with the NSE index down 1.4 percent versus a 1.3 percent gain in the MSCI Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan, as investors await policy measures from the government
ICICI Bank fell 1.7 percent, while HDFC Bank fell 1.2 percent. However, among gainers, Maruti Suzuki India rose 2.7 percent, recovering from its 8.9 percent drop on Thursday as some investors saw the stock as oversold. Bajaj Auto rose for a third consecutive day, gaining 2.9 percent to its highest close since May 16 on a slew of upgrades by brokerage houses, which cited attractive valuations and a turnaround in earnings.