Indian stocks fall on monsoon
Thursday, 20 August 2009
MUMBAI Aug. 19 (Bloomberg): India's benchmark stock index fell after the nation's agriculture minister said farm output may decline because of low monsoon rains. Metal producers declined after their Chinese counterparts plunged.
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., India's largest tractor maker, sank 3.8 per cent after Farm Minister Sharad Pawar today said monsoon-sown rice production may decline by 10 million metric tons this year as a result of drought in a third of the country's 626 districts. Tata Steel Ltd., the biggest producer of the alloy, also slid 3.8 per cent.
"There is uncertainty in the minds of investors how the government will overcome the drought situation," said A.N. Sridhar, a fund manager at Sahara Asset Management Co. in Mumbai. "The rally in commodities seems to have come off as there is uncertainty over demand in China."
The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index, or Sensex, fell 225.62, or 1.5 per cent, to 14,809.64, according to preliminary prices. The measure has lost 5.5 per cent this month on concern monsoon rainfall will be deficient. The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange lost 1.5 per cent to 4,394.1. The BSE 200 Index declined 1.6 per cent to 1,815.11.
Meanwhile, Lodha Group may seek to raise as much as 30 billion rupees ($615 million) in an initial sale of shares in India by the end of the year, a person familiar with the matter said today.
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., India's largest tractor maker, sank 3.8 per cent after Farm Minister Sharad Pawar today said monsoon-sown rice production may decline by 10 million metric tons this year as a result of drought in a third of the country's 626 districts. Tata Steel Ltd., the biggest producer of the alloy, also slid 3.8 per cent.
"There is uncertainty in the minds of investors how the government will overcome the drought situation," said A.N. Sridhar, a fund manager at Sahara Asset Management Co. in Mumbai. "The rally in commodities seems to have come off as there is uncertainty over demand in China."
The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index, or Sensex, fell 225.62, or 1.5 per cent, to 14,809.64, according to preliminary prices. The measure has lost 5.5 per cent this month on concern monsoon rainfall will be deficient. The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange lost 1.5 per cent to 4,394.1. The BSE 200 Index declined 1.6 per cent to 1,815.11.
Meanwhile, Lodha Group may seek to raise as much as 30 billion rupees ($615 million) in an initial sale of shares in India by the end of the year, a person familiar with the matter said today.