Indian shares ended lower on Friday, after jumping to record highs twice this week, as investors turned cautious ahead of inflation data and booked profits in recent outperformers. The broader NSE index closed down 0.23 percent at 9,400.90, but was up 1.24 percent for the week. The benchmark BSE index ended 0.21 percent lower at 30,188.15, but was up 1.10 percent for the week.
Both indexes snapped four straight sessions of gains. Eicher Motors snapped five consecutive sessions of gains to end 1.1 percent lower, while Ashok Leyland fell 1.2 percent after a two-day rally. Consumer price inflation (CPI) is expected to have eased to a three-month low of 3.49 percent in April from 3.81 percent the previous month, below the central bank's medium-term target of 4 percent due to lower base effects and a fall in the cost of pulses, cereals and perishable goods.
"There is plenty of interest in today's inflation and production data, due post-market hours," DBS Group Research said in a report. The Reserve Bank of India had said in April that it was "committed to bringing headline inflation closer to 4 percent on a durable basis and in a calibrated manner." A lower rate of inflation would likely lower the chances of an interest rate hike, potentially adding more fuel to the ongoing rally in equities.
Both the broader NSE index and the benchmark BSE index hit record highs in the previous two sessions, and were up more than one percent for the week. The indices are headed for a second week of gains in three. Meanwhile, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals slumped about 16 percent after the company's fourth-quarter profit missed analysts' estimates. Shares of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd rose as much as 4.6 percent after the company's subsidiary, Delhi Airport Metro Express, won an arbitration case against Delhi Metro Rail Corp on Thursday.
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