Indian Shares Drift Lower On Iraq Jitters

(RTTNews) - Indian shares tumbled on Friday, tracking weak global cues after U.S. President Barack Obama authorized air strikes against ISIS militants in northern Iraq to protect American personnel and civilians under seize.

Barring FMCG and healthcare, all other sectoral indices on the BSE ended in the red. Realty stocks bore the brunt of the selling followed by metal, power, capital goods and banking stocks.

The benchmark 30-share S&P BSE Sensex ended the session down 259.87 points or 1.02 percent at 25,329.14, with 24 of its components retreating. The broader CNX Nifty index fell by 80.70 points or 1.06 percent to 7,568.55.

Metal stocks Coal India, Tata Steel, Hindalco and Sesa Sterlite dropped 2-6 percent, Tata Power lost 3.8 percent, BHEL declined 3.7 percent, Larsen & Toubro shed 2.6 percent and Tata Motors declined 2 percent.

SBI shares fell 1.5 percent as the public sector lender reported a marginal 3.3 percent increase in quarterly net profit. Mahindra & Mahindra lost 1.6 percent. The utility vehicle manufacturer posted a 6 percent decline in net profit for the June quarter.

Sun Pharma shed 0.6 percent and Ranbaxy Laboratories edged down marginally on a report their multi-billion merger deal has come under the close scrutiny of the fair trade watchdog Competition Commission of India.

Bhushan Steel shares were locked at the 10 percent lower circuit limit. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Neeraj Singhal, vice-chairman of the company, in connection with the Syndicate Bank bribery case.

Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing plunged 7.6 percent after posting disappointing quarterly results. SAIL tumbled 4.4 percent, BHEL slumped 4.6 percent and HMT dropped 2.3 percent after the government said three sick public sector units will be either merged or taken over by these companies.

Among top gainers, Bharti Airtel shares rose 2.1 percent after the telecom major raised Rs 2,140 crore by selling a 4.5 percent stake in its tower arm, Bharti Infratel. TCS, Cipla, ITC and Dr Reddy's Laboratories rose between 0.2 percent and 0.9 percent.

On the global front, the other Asian markets fell broadly and European stocks dropped for a third day on concerns that growing geopolitical tensions in Iraq and Russia could undermine the global economic recovery.