Sensex, Nifty fall; L&T, refiners drag

By Krishna V Kurup

(Reuters) - Indian shares declined on Monday, with Larsen & Toubro Ltd dragging the indexes after it cut its full-year order flow growth guidance, while oil price worries kept energy shares such as Reliance Industries Ltd under pressure.

Oil remained well supported as ongoing output cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia contributed to a significant reduction in excess supplies and as tensions in the Middle East raised the prospects of supply disruptions.

"Rising crude is weighing on the market and has become a major concern," said K K Mittal, Vice President at Venus India Asset Finance.

The broader NSE Nifty fell 0.5 percent to 10,273.30 as of 0626 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.3 percent lower at 33,209.53.

Larsen & Toubro fell 2.5 percent on cutting its order flow guidance to nil-to-marginal growth. The engineering company, however, posted a rise in second-quarter profit but said its order inflow fell due to a subdued investment environment.

Energy shares declined, with the Nifty energy index down 0.9 percent. The index has declined for seven sessions out of eight. Reliance Industries fell 0.6 percent.

Coal India Ltd dropped 2.4 percent after reporting a 40 percent fall in second-quarter profit.

Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd fell as much as 3.7 percent to its lowest in four weeks, after its September-quarter profit missed market estimates.

Among the gainers, State Bank of India rose 1.5 percent after its quarterly results on Friday indicated a slower build-up of bad loans.

Axis Bank Ltd jumped 1.8 percent to its highest since September 2016 after the bank said it will raise capital by selling securities to a group of investors including Bain Capital and Life Insurance Corp.

(Reporting by Krishna V Kurup in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)