Sensex, Nifty fall; Yes Bank slides amid RBI glare

By Tanvi Mehta

(Reuters) - The Sensex and Nifty declined on Monday, dragged by market heavyweights, while Yes Bank continued to reel under pressure from the central bank.

Nearly all Indian companies have reported their earnings for the December quarter, but the results have been far from encouraging. This was the final quarter before India heads into a national election, due to be held by May.

"There's a lack of buyers in the marker, lack of triggers... Earnings multiples could have been better to make us an attractive investment target," said Jayant Manglik, president, Religare Broking.

The Nifty fell 0.72 percent to 10,646.80 as of 0609 GMT.

The Sensex shed 0.72 percent to 35,551.60.

Sentiment was dragged by market heavyweights, with Tata Consultancy Services Ltd losing as much as 2.3 percent and Reliance Industries Ltd declining nearly 2 percent.

The Nifty FMCG index gave up 1.3 percent, with Hindustan Unilever Ltd falling 2 percent.

Yes Bank Ltd's stock witnessed selling pressure after it was pulled up by the central bank for disclosing information as part of the Risk Assessment Report (RAR) for breaching confidentiality and violating regulatory guidelines. Shares fell as much as 8.2 percent, but later pared losses.

Shares of Dewan Housing Finance Corp Ltd rose after Economic Times reported that Baring Pvt Equity, Bain Capital and Hero Fincorp were in talks to buy a stake in the debt-laden housing finance company.

(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreejay Sinha)