Sensex poised for first weekly drop in three as earnings disappoint

REUTERS - India's stock markets fell on Friday as ICICI Bank slumped more than 2 percent after reporting its smallest quarterly profit in nearly a decade, as indexes headed for their first weekly decline in three after disappointing quarterly results.

ICICI Bank, India's second-biggest private sector lender by assets, declined 2.5 percent as its fourth-quarter net profit lagged estimates after provisions for bad loans jumped.

However, analysts said the overall March-quarter earnings weren't as bad as the market had initially feared. Cement makers such as ACC and Ambuja Cements rose 1 percent each after posting an increase in cement sales volume for the March quarter.

"With the prospect of commodities stabilising and earnings looking slightly better, there is an expectation that the earnings can bounce back to 18-20 percent-odd levels and some bit of that is captured in the market", said Pankaj Pandey, head of research at ICICI Securities.

The broader NSE Nifty was down 0.61 percent at 7799.15 at 1.19 p.m., and down 1.2 percent for the week, snapping a two-week winning streak.

The NSE was still on course to gain 0.8 percent for the month, though momentum has waned after the index surged 10.75 percent in March.

The Sensex fell 0.56 percent to 25,458.63.

Among other decliners, Idea Cellular fell 8 percent after India's third largest telecom company's voice and data traffic growth missed analyst estimates.

HCL Technologies fell 5 percent after several brokers cut price targets on the stock over disappointing earnings.

(Reporting by Aastha Agnihotri in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)