Nifty declined 58 points to settle at 10,682
- Thirty six stocks on the 50-scrip Nifty index finished the day in the negative zone.
- FMCG stocks fell, with the Nifty FMCG index settling 1.3 per cent lower for the day. ITC fell 2.4 per cent, a day after the country's largest cigarette maker posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit of Rs 2,933 crore in January-March quarter. Dabur India finished 0.7 per cent lower while HUL declined 0.3 per cent.
- Energy heavyweights Reliance Industries and BPCL finished with losses of 1 per cent and nearly 2 per cent respectively. Indian Oil closed 0.7 per cent lower.
- Karnataka elections had a temporary effect on the markets, but macroeconomic factors such as the rise in crude oil prices and inflation will have a bigger say in the medium term, according to analysts.
- State BJP president B S Yeddyurappa was sworn in as chief minister on Thursday morning even though his party fell short of an outright majority. He has now 15 days to prove his majority in the state legislative assembly.
- Retail inflation accelerated for the first time in four months in April, suggesting the Reserve Bank of India may turn hawkish at its policy meeting next month.
- "There are also concerns over foreign institutional investments," said Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at HDFC Securities.
- Among finance stocks, HDFC fell 2 per cent, LIC Housing Finance 0.9 per cent and Muthoot Finance 1.3 per cent.
- Tata Steel Ltd dropped 1.9 per cent, a day after the company posted a quarterly profit of Rs 14,688 crore ($2.17 billion) on the back of a one-off pensions gain.
- Equities in other Asian markets fell marginally. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.22 per cent.
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