India's Sensex poised for biggest weekly drop since February

Trump's second warning has shaken markets that have been largely resilient this year.

Nifty
A broker reacts while trading at his computer terminal at a stock brokerage firm in Mumbai, India. REUTERS

Indian shares fell for a fifth session on Friday as concerns over corporate growth recovery and increasing tensions between the U.S. and North Korea continued to dampen investor sentiment.

Global risk appetite faltered amidst increasing geopolitical worries regarding North Korea, resulting in investors piling onto havens such as U.S. Treasuries, gold and the yen.

U.S. President Donald Trump stepped up his campaign of pressure, warning the North Korea regime not to follow through with a missile test near Guam and promising massive response to any strike against America or its allies.

Trump's second warning has shaken markets that have been largely resilient this year.

At 0630 GMT, the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.62 percent to 31,335 while the broader NSE Nifty lost 0.67 percent to 9,754.

Sensex was poised for a 3.3 percent weekly retreat, the biggest since February, and has erased almost all of its advance last month.

State-run Union Bank of India and Power Finance Corp fell after missing estimates, following the tone set earlier this week by the country's biggest auto and drug makers.

S&P BSE Bankex index was down 0.5 percent, dragged lower by IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Among the top laggards on the index, Asian Paints fell 2.1 percent, Larsen and Toubro lost 1.7 percent while Hero MotoCorp declined 1.6 percent.

Market breadth was in the favour of losers, with about 2 stocks declining to every 1 stock that advanced.

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