India's Stocks Retreat; ICICI Bank, Metal Producers Lead Drop
July 1 (Bloomberg) -- Indian stocks fell as investors withdrew from riskier assets amid concern global economic growth may be waning.
ICICI Bank Ltd., the country's second-biggest lender, declined 1.8 percent. China's manufacturing growth slowed and Moody's Investors Service placed Spain's credit rating on review for a possible downgrade, fanning concern among investors that global expansion may cool. Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd., the biggest copper and zinc producer, led a drop in metal producers' shares as raw material prices dropped.
"On one hand India looks promising and on the other hand there is some worry on the global markets," said Vaibhav Sanghavi, a fund manager at Ambit Capital Ltd. in Mumbai. "The global market has not settled as yet." Vaibhav is avoiding shares of raw material producers.
The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index, or Sensex, fell 202.48, or 1.1 percent, to 17,498.42 at 9:51 a.m. in Mumbai. The gauge climbed 1 percent in the three months ended June, its longest quarterly winning streak since at least September 1979, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange lost 0.9 percent to 5,266.50. The BSE 200 Index retreated 0.5 percent to 2,236.61.
Sterlite
ICICI Bank declined 1.8 percent to 846.5 rupees. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 1.4. The gauge has slumped 14 percent from its high this year on April 15 on concern Europe's debt crisis and Chinese steps to curb property prices will hurt global growth.
Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd., the largest copper and zinc producer, retreated 2.3 percent to 165.95 rupees. Three- month delivery copper lost as much as 1.3 percent on the London Metal Exchange. Aluminum declined 1 percent.
Hindalco Industries Ltd., the biggest aluminum producer, fell 1.7 percent to 142 rupees. Tata Steel Ltd., the biggest producer of the alloy, declined 1.6 percent to 478.05 rupees.
Overseas funds sold a net 1.76 billion rupees ($37.9 million) of Indian equities on June 29, paring their investments in the stocks this year to 310.8 billion rupees, according to the nation's market regulator.
Inflows from overseas reached a record 834.2 billion rupees in 2009, exceeding the high set two years ago in local currency terms, as the biggest advance in 18 years lured foreign funds. They sold a record 529.9 billion rupees of shares in 2008, triggering a record annual decline.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rajhkumar K Shaaw in Mumbai at rshaaw@bloomberg.net .
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