Nifty, Sensex slide as investors book profits

By Tanvi Mehta

(Reuters) - Indian shares fell on Wednesday as investors booked profits and exercised caution before corporate results begin to roll in next week, while local indexes also tracked a decline in broader Asia.

Other stock markets in Asia also slipped as disappointing manufacturing data from China added to fears that economic momentum in the country was slowing.

"There is lack of volume (in Indian shares) and we're very close to the recent highs, leading to some profit-booking," said Siddharth Sedani, head of equity advisory at Anand Rathi Financial Services in Mumbai.

"The earnings season will give some triggers ... we should be around 11,000 levels before it begins," he added, referring to the broader Nifty.

The NSE Nifty was down 0.27 percent at 10,880.40 as of 0519 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.17 percent lower at 36,192.41.

IT services giant Tata Consultancy Services Ltd will kick off the corporate earnings season with results for the December-quarter scheduled for Jan. 10.

The Nifty Auto index fell as much as 1.6 percent after Eicher Motors Ltd and Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd reported disappointing sales for December. Eicher slid 6.1 percent while Mahindra dropped 3.3 percent.

Metal stocks also traded lower, with the Nifty metal index falling 1.9 percent. JSW Steel Ltd and Vedanta Ltd fell about 3 percent each.

Shares in Jet Airways Ltd sank over 3 percent after the airline said it had delayed debt payments to a consortium of Indian banks.

(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)