Indian shares eased a touch in choppy trade on Friday amid selling a day after the benchmark index crossed 12,000 for the first time, while investors await quarterly earnings from key companies next week.
Satyam Computer Services Ltd, the fourth-biggest exporter, fell more than 7 percent to 808.15 rupees after it forecast a disappointing 18-20 percent earnings per share growth for 2006/07.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries Ltd fell more than 2 percent to 974.30 rupees after a hitting a new peak of 1,000 rupees. The 30-share BSE index fell 0.08 percent to 12,030.30 points. Losers beat gainers 1,420 to 1,066 in trade of 255 million shares. The 50-issue NSE index was unchanged at 3,573.05.
The BSE index gained 7 percent on the week and is up 28 percent this year, boosted by net foreign fund investment of $3.5 billion. "We've had a great run-up in the market in the previous sessions, so there was some profit-taking ahead of the weekend and ahead of earnings from Reliance and others," said Mitesh Mehta, vice president of equity sales at LKP Shares. "We may see a further correction in the coming sessions, but the strong liquidity will limit the downside," he said.
Elsewhere, the Karachi 100 index fell 0.56 percent to 12,007.60 points, while the Colombo All-Share index gained 0.87 percent to 2,321.91.