Indian Stocks Extend Losing Run as Asian Equities Resume Selloff

(Bloomberg) -- Indian shares slid for a fourth day as Asian equities lurched lower again and quarterly results from some of the nation’s biggest companies disappointed investors.

The S&P BSE Sensex dropped 0.4 percent to 34,014.43 at 10:27 a.m. in Mumbai. Asian Paints Ltd. was the worst performer among the gauge’s 30 constituents after the September-quarter profit at the country’s biggest producer of the material trailed estimates. The NSE Nifty Index slid 0.4 percent to 10,205.40.

A sell-off in equities resumed with Asian stocks and U.S. futures sliding as Chinese shares snapped a two-day rally of almost 7 percent. The bleak backdrop -- the MSCI Asia Pacific Index is on the verge of entering a bear-market zone -- offered little comfort to domestic sentiment severely dented by concerns about a liquidity crunch, hardening borrowing costs and a weak rupee.

“The Nifty isn’t able to hold the upside and I think it is trying to find a good base at around 10,000 to 10,100 levels,” said Rajendra Kumar Wadher, a director at PRB Securities Pvt. in Mumbai. Prices of oil, the nation’s top import, and bond yields are among key factors that will determine the near-term direction of local shares, he said.

Eleven of the 19 sector indexes compiled by the BSE Ltd. were in the red, led by the S&P BSE Information Technology Index’s 1.5 percent decline. The NSE Volatility Index fell 6.2 percent after a three-day rally of more than 20 percent.

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