Indian Shares Erase Early Gains

(RTTNews) - The Indian markets erased most of their early gains to end on a flat note Friday. While IT stocks gained ground on Infosys' better-than-expected Q3 results, profit taking at higher levels ahead of industrial production data due out later in the day limited gains in the broader market.

Investors also digested trade data, which showed that India's export growth eased to a six-month low of 3.49 percent in December, putting more pressure on the country's fragile current account balance.

Exports stood at $26.3 billion in December compared to $25.4 billion in 2012 due to a fall in the shipment of petroleum products, official data showed. The trade deficit, meanwhile, widened to $10.14 billion in the month from $9.22 billion recorded in the previous month.

The benchmark 30-share BSE Sensex jumped about 260 points earlier in the session before paring gains to finish up 45.12 points or 0.22 percent at 20,758.49, with only 9 of its components advancing. The broader Nifty index ended largely unchanged, rising just about 3 points or 0.05 percent to 6,171.45.

Infosys rallied 3 percent after the country's second-largest software services exporter posted strong Q3 results and raised its revenue growth guidance for the year ending 31 March 2014. Rival TCS and Wipro gained about 2 percent each, HCL Technologies advanced 1.1 percent and Tech Mahindra jumped 2.7 percent.

Reliance Industries gained 0.6 percent after the energy giant ramped up gas output from its KG-D6 block. Indian Oil Corporation rose 0.9 percent on reports the Petroleum Ministry is opposing divestment in the company at current market price.

Manappuram Finance soared 16 percent, extending Thursday's rally, after the Reserve Bank of India revised upwards loan-to-value ratio against the collateral of gold jewelry. Shares of Muthoot Finance, the flagship company of Muthoot Group, climbed nearly 7 percent.

Automakers ended on a subdued note after industry body SIAM said it expects the automobile industry to end the current accounting year with the first sales decline in more than a decade. Tata Motors slipped 0.3 percent, Maruti Suzuki dropped 1.2 percent, Bajaj Auto declined half a percent and Hero MotoCorp lost 1.6 percent.

Axis Bank closed down 1.6 percent after the Union Cabinet deferred its earlier decision to create an asset management company for Specified Undertaking of UTI, paving way for selling stakes held in ITC, Larsen & Toubro and Axis Bank. Larsen & Toubro dropped 1.5 percent, while ITC shares rose 2.2 percent.

IndusInd Bank tumbled 3.2 percent after its gross non-performing assets jumped to 1.18 percent during the quarter ended December from 0.99 percent in the corresponding period last year.

Low-fare airline SpiceJet fell 2.1 percent on fund raising reports. Jubilant FoodWorks fell 2.5 percent as index provider MSCI excluded the stock from its global small-cap index.

MTNL slumped 4.3 percent after the Union Cabinet cleared a Rs 11,258-crore refund to state-run telcos BSNL and MTNL for surrendering their broadband wireless access spectrum. Goa Carbon tumbled 4.5 percent after the firm shut down operations at its Bilaspur plant in Chattisgarh, citing non-availability of raw materials.

The Asian markets ended mixed in cautious trading, as investors digested disappointing Chinese trade data and waited for cues from the U.S. jobs report, which will have implications on the pace of the Federal Reserve's stimulus cuts. European stocks were higher in early trading, with surprisingly upbeat French industrial production figures bolstering investor sentiment.