Sensex edges lower on global woes

REUTERS – The NSE Nifty edged lower on Friday tracking weaker global markets on worries the European Central Bank is moving closer to unwinding its massive monetary stimulus.

Concerns that the ECB and the U.S. Federal Reserve are moving to remove some of their stimulus measures have hit sentiment, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 0.6 percent on Friday.

But broader losses in India were capped as some drug makers such as Lupin Ltd recovered from recent falls on value-buying.

“There is a mild worry about the global interest rate trajectory while Indian pharma stocks are trying to make a comeback after recent consolidation,” said Deepak Jasani, Head, Retail Research, at HDFC Securities.

The broader Nifty was trading 0.14 percent lower as of 0633 GMT, but was up 1.4 percent for the week, snapping a three-week losing streak and headed for its biggest weekly gain since late May.

The benchmark BSE Sensex was down 0.12 percent, but up 1.3 percent for the week, after losing in the previous week.

Financials and private banks weighed on the indexes with Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd and ICICI Bank Ltd down as much as 1.61 percent and 1.17 percent respectively.

Meanwhile, InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, which owns IndiGo airlines, fell as much as 0.89 percent amid lingering worries about its interest in buying state-owned carrier Air India.

On Thursday InterGlobe’s co-founder sought to allay some investor concerns by saying it was interested in Air India’s international arm and its low-cost division, Air India Express, rather than the whole business.

Among gainers, Lupin Ltd, India’s third-largest drug maker, surged as much as 4.7 percent, to post its first weekly gains in five.