Sensex edges down; ICICI Bank biggest drag

REUTERS - Indian shares edged down on Friday after hitting one-year highs in the previous session, as investors booked profit in banks and financials while disappointing stimulus measures from the Bank of Japan weighed on investor sentiment.

The BOJ doubled purchases of ETFs, but maintained its base money target at 80 trillion yen ($775 billion) and the pace of purchases of other assets, including Japanese government bonds.

The central bank also held at 0.1 percent the interest it charges to a portion of excess reserves financial institutions leave with the central bank, while saying it would thoroughly assess the effects of negative interest rates and its asset buying programme.

The Nifty Bank index was down 0.55 percent, with ICICI Bank the biggest laggard, shedding as much as 3.6 percent ahead of its quarterly earnings scheduled later in the day.

The broader NSE Nifty was down 0.16 percent as of 0705 GMT and looked set for a fifth straight monthly gain, of 4.57 percent, in its longest winning stretch since a seven-month gain in 2014.? But analysts warned gains may not sustain.

"Bank stocks are likely to witness selling pressure as their quarterly profits will be hit by increasing NPAs," said R.K. Gupta, managing director at Taurus Asset Management.?

"Expect correction in the markets over the next fortnight and the NSE to drop to 8,300-8,350 levels."

The benchmark BSE Sensex was down 0.33 percent, heading for a weekly gain of 1 percent.

Shares of Eicher Motors hit a record high after the company posted a 58.6 percent jump in its June-quarter net profit.

Expectations that the government would be able to pass the Goods and Services Tax bill in the current session of parliament helped shares of logistics companies gain. Gati Ltd and Allcargo Logistics rose 1.7 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

(Reporting by Arnab Paul in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)