Sensex slides for 2nd day

India's benchmark stock index declined for a second day after weak Chinese import data sent global equities to their first loss in 10 days and metal prices retreated.

Vedanta, India's largest copper producer, dropped after a six-day, 33 per cent rally. Hindalco Industries, the nation's second-biggest aluminum producer, ended an eight-day climb, while Tata Steel declined more than two per cent. Oil & Natural Gas Corp, the largest explorer, slid the most in three weeks. Infosys, the second-largest software exporter, slid for a second day after cutting its sales forecast.

The S&P BSE Sensex lost 0.2 per cent to 26,846.53 at the close. Energy and materials companies led losses on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index as shipments to China plunged 20 per cent in dollar terms in September. The regional declines eclipsed data showing India's factory output expanded 6.4 per cent in August, versus an estimated 4.8 per cent increase.

"Metal companies have had a good rally and we're seeing some amount of technical correction," Vaibhav Sanghavi, managing director at Ambit Investment Advisors in Mumbai, said by phone. "The volatility will continue in the underlying share prices until global commodities find a stable base."

'An Oasis'

India's consumer prices rose 4.41 per cent in September from a year earlier, compared with the median estimate for a 4.4 per cent gain in a Bloomberg survey, separate data showed after market hours on Monday. The Reserve Bank of India on September 29 cut its main rate by 50 basis points, twice as much as most economists surveyed by Bloomberg News predicted.

Governor Raghuram Rajan can "comfortably" lower the rate by another 75 basis points to a five-year low of 6 percent, Arvind Virmani, a central bank adviser, said.