(Bloomberg) -- Indian metal shares tracked a decline in global commodity prices, dragging the key NSE Nifty 50 Index from its all-time high. Oil and gas producers also retreated.
Nifty index dropped 0.8 percent at the close in Mumbai, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.9 percent. The BSE metal gauge of 10 companies declined 2.5 percent to a four-month low and the S&P BSE Oil & Gas Index retreated 1.6 percent, its third day of losses. Oil & Natural Gas Corp. fell 2.7 percent as crude futures hovered just above $45 a barrel.
Tata Motors Ltd. dropped 3.9 percent, the most in almost three months, after saying sales of its luxury Jaguar Land Rover cars declined in April. It was the worst performer on the Sensex.
“Commodity stocks have followed the correction in prices globally including the crude oil, resulting in a selloff in these counters,” said Purvesh Shelatkar, senior vice president of institutional sales at Centrum Broking in Mumbai. The Bloomberg Commodity Index rebounded from yesterday's lowest level in more than seven months.
The India VIX Index, a gauge of expected stock-price swings, rose 5.8 percent, the most in more than four months.
Summary
- Twelve of the 13 sector indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. fell, led by S&P BSE Metal and the oil and gas indexes.
- Aviation companies Jet Airways India Ltd. and SpiceJet Ltd. each rose at least 1.6 percent as oil prices slumped.
- S&P BSE Bankex dropped 0.6 percent after a rise to a record on Thursday, as some investors said changes in India's bank rules to tackle bad loans weren't adequate. Bank of Baroda, Axis Bank Ltd. and Punjab National Bank paced losses.
- Among stocks reacting to earnings, Hindustan Construction Co. plunged 7.9 percent as net income for the January-March quarter fell from a year earlier.
- Drugmaker Wockhardt Ltd. dropped 4.2 percent after its quarterly loss widened from a year ago. Tata Communications Ltd. slumped 9.1 percent, most since August 2015, after quarterly group loss widened from a year earlier.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ameya Karve in Mumbai at akarve@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Divya Balji at dbalji1@bloomberg.net, Margo Towie, Namitha Jagadeesh
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