(Bloomberg) -- Indian shares slid to a six-month low ahead of the expiry of derivatives contracts as global equities lurched lower again and quarterly results from some of the nation's biggest companies disappointed investors.
The S&P BSE Sensex dropped 0.8 percent to 33,847.23 at close 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 1 percent to 10,146.80. Brent crude fell below 50-day moving average for the first time since August.
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.
“Uncertainty regarding some debt repayments of non bank lenders is keeping traders nervous even as crude oil declined,” said Vishal Dalmia, executive vice president of Dalmia Securities Pvt. “There is caution ahead of the derivatives expiry Thursday.”
Seventeen of the 19 sector indexes compiled by the BSE Ltd. were in the red, led by the S&P BSE Information Technology Index's 2.8 percent decline. The NSE Volatility Index fell 11 percent after a three-day rally of more than 20 percent.
To contact the reporters on this story: Ameya Karve in Mumbai at akarve@bloomberg.net;Santanu Chakraborty in Mumbai at schakrabor11@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Divya Balji at dbalji1@bloomberg.net, Ravil Shirodkar, Kasper Viita
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.
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