Stocks slide on weak corporate earnings

Mumbai: India's benchmark stock index fell, completing its first weekly slide in four weeks, led by Hero Honda Motors Ltd. after its quarter earnings fell short of analysts' estimates.

Hero Honda, the nation's biggest motorcycle maker, lost 3.2 per cent after posting its first drop in quarterly profit in almost three years as higher raw material costs eroded gains from selling more two-wheelers. Oil & Natural Gas Corp., the largest energy explorer, fell after first-quarter net income declined 25 per cent.

"Investors don't have any patience for underperformance," said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, chief strategist at SMC Capitals Ltd. in New Delhi. "Companies whose results have been weak are getting punished."

The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index, or Sensex, fell 123.71, or 0.7 per cent, to 17,868.29. The gauge lost 1.5 per cent last week, its first drop in four weeks, trimming its monthly advance to 1 per cent. The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange lost 0.8 per cent to 5,367.60. The BSE 200 Index retreated 0.5 per cent to 2,281.63.

Hero Honda dropped 3.2 per cent to Rs1,814.85. Net income in the three months through June fell 1.7 per cent to Rs4.92 billion (Dh393 million). That was lower than the Rs5.8 billion average profit estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 26 analysts.

Oil & Natural Gas lost 0.5 per cent to Rs1,240.7. Its first-quarter net income decreased 25 per cent to Rs36.6 billion from a year earlier.