India shares edged lower on Thursday after an unexpected slump in industrial output exacerbated concerns about economic growth, while mobile carrier Bharti Airtel continued to drop, ending at its lowest close since late 2006 after poor quarterly earnings.
India's industrial output in June shrank 1.8 percent, missing forecasts for 1 percent growth. The data is likely to add pressure on new Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram to boost growth by announcing fiscal measures and action to attract foreign investments.
Corporate profits are also raising concerns. Bharti Airtel slumped to its lowest close since October 2006, dropping for a second day after disappointing earnings results on Wednesday, while State Bank of India was hit by worries the lender would post weak earnings on Friday. The 30-share BSE index fell 0.23 percent to end at 17,560.87 points, retreating from an earlier gain of as much as 0.6 percent.
The 50-share NSE index fell 0.28 percent to end at 5,322.08 points. Both indexes are still up around 2 percent each for the week after Chidambaram promised forthcoming announcements on fiscal consolidation and appeared to call for lower interest rates. Shares seen sensitive to growth fell. State Bank of India slumped 4.5 percent to mark its biggest percentage fall since February 22, hit as well by worries the country's biggest lender would post disappointing earnings on Friday.
Bharti Airtel dropped 6.42 percent to 256.75 rupees, its lowest close since October 26, 2006, as banks including Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered cut their ratings on India's top telecoms carrier in the wake of disappointing quarterly earnings. India's biggest telecom carrier has now dropped 12.61 percent over the past two sessions since posting its results on Wednesday. Tata Motors fell 0.9 percent after posting a smaller-than-expected rise in quarterly profit.