Sensex falls to three-week low on disappointing results

(Reuters) - Indian stock markets fell to a three-week low on Monday following a spate of disappointing corporate results, including from InterGlobe Aviation, and after a business survey showed manufacturing growth fell its lowest in four months.

The Nikkei/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to a four-month low of 50.5 in April from March's 52.4, nearing the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction and the lowest reading of the year.

Sentiment was also hit as Japan's Nikkei share average slumped 3 percent after the yen hit a fresh 18-month high against the dollar.

"We expect markets to remain in a trading range for the next few days. Market valuations are full and the results season has been tepid, hence there is no big upside trigger," said Samrat Dasgupta, CEO of Esquire Capital Investment Advisors.

"Investors will now look at the progress of the monsoon from the last week of May in order to increase equity allocation."

The broader NSE Nifty was down 0.6 percent at 7,803.65 as of 0733 GMT, after gaining 1.44 percent in April.

The benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.7 percent lower at 25431.46, after rising 1.04 percent last month.

ICICI Bank fell as much as 4.9 percent to its lowest since April 12, heading for its fourth straight session of falls, and the second after it posted a fall of 76 percent in its January-March net profit on Friday.

Among other firms, InterGlobe Aviation, the owner of India's largest carrier IndiGo, fell 6 percent as the company's quarterly net profit grew only marginally after a sharp rise in rentals and depreciation.

Bajaj Auto fell 0.4 percent after the two-wheeler maker posted a 2 percent fall in its monthly auto sales for April.

(Reporting by Manoj B Rawal; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)