Sensex, Nifty slip; Axis Bank tumbles

By Shivam Srivastava

(Reuters) - Indian shares were slightly lower on Friday after two straight sessions of gains, dragged down by Axis Bank Ltd on disappointing results while investors remained cautious ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration as the U.S. president later in the day.

Broader sentiment was also subdued even after China's fourth-quarter economic growth beat expectations and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen took a less hawkish policy stance.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.2 percent, and looked set to end the week 0.1 percent lower.

"From the viewpoint of probability, I feel the downside probability is more than upside because factors that pertain to the latter have already been discounted," said Madhumita Ghosh, head of Corporate Solutions Victory Inc.

If India does not see proper growth in the coming times, then markets may fall further, she added.

The broader NSE Nifty was down 0.36 percent at 8,405 as of 0543 GMT, while the benchmark BSE index was 0.39 percent lower at 27,201.69.

For the week, the BSE Sensex was down 0.1 percent while the Nifty was up 0.1 percent.

Financial stocks accounted for most of the falls on Friday, with Axis Bank shedding as much as 6.4 percent in its biggest percentage drop in nearly two-and-a-half months after reporting a 73 percent plunge in its December-quarter profit.

Axis Bank shares were trading at two times their 30-day average volume.

Among other losers, ICICI Bank was down 1.89 percent while Infosys Ltd fell as much as 1.26 percent to its lowest since Nov. 25, 2016.

Telecom stocks were among the top gainers with Idea Cellular up 2.96 percent and Bharti Airtel 2.37 percent higher.

ITC Ltd rose up to 0.6 percent to its highest since Nov. 8, while Hindustan Unilever Ltd was up 0.5 percent.

(Reporting by Shivam Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)