Sensex edges down, but heads for third straight monthly gain

REUTERS - Indian shares edged down on Tuesday as investors took profit after five consecutive sessions of gains, but indexes were headed for their third straight monthly rise, outperforming almost all regional markets.

The benchmark BSE Sensex has gained around 4 percent so far this month. In dollar terms, the index was headed for a 4.1 percent jump, making it the second best performer in Asia after the Pakistan Stock Exchange's benchmark 100-share index, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The gains have come after companies posted resilient earnings for January-March and after weather forecasters predicted above-average monsoon after two consecutive years of drought.

 

But traders say consolidation could be in order for June, with a potential rate hike from the U.S. Federal Reserve and as Great Britain gears up to vote on whether to leave or stay in the European Union.

At home, India is due to release economic growth data later in the day, while the Reserve Bank of India is widely expected to keep interest rates on hold next week.

"GDP, RBI and FOMC in the U.S. are some of the important events that are likely to keep us hooked and would keep upside capped for the time being, especially in large caps, while mid-and small-caps would play the catch-up game," said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

The broader NSE Nifty was down 0.11 percent as of 0830 GMT, after gaining 5.5 percent in the previous five sessions. The index has gained 4 percent so far this month.

The benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.18 percent lower at 26,677.65.

Some of the top performers for this month led declines on Tuesday. Larsen & Toubro fell 0.7 percent but was up around 18 percent for May after posting upbeat earnings.

Tech Mahindra and Housing Development Finance Corp fell around 0.7 percent each. Both stocks were among the top five performers on the 50-member NSE index for this month.

Among other losers, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries fell 6 percent on Tuesday after the company reported quarterly earnings below analyst estimates.

Among gainers, Tata Motors rose as much as 10.1 percent to its highest level since June 3, 2015 after the company surprised investors with January-March earnings.

Hindalco Industries was up nearly 2 percent after rising 12 percent on Monday on robust earnings.

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