BSE Sensex drops; techs, ONGC, Hero Honda fall

People watch a large screen displaying India's benchmark share index on the facade of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai January 24, 2008.

MUMBAI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex eased 0.3 percent on Friday, with state-run explorer Oil & Natural Gas Corp(ONGC.BO) and top motorcycle maker Hero Honda(HROH.BO) among the losers after weak quarterly results.

Outsourcers such as Tata Consultancy Services(TCS.BO), Infosys and Wipro fell on concerns over the pace of economic recovery in the United States, their biggest market.

"Recent key earnings have been a mixed bag. Global markets are also under pressure. These things are weighing on our market," said Neeraj Dewan, director of Quantum Securities.

By 11:44 a.m. (0614 GMT), the 30-share BSE index was trading down 0.25 percent at 17,946.40, with 19 of its components declining.

Hero Honda fell as much as 4.3 percent to 1,790.65 rupees after it posted a 1.6 percent drop in quarterly net profit, its first decline in 11 quarters, and analysts said margins would remain under pressure in the current quarter as well.

JPMorgan cut its share price target for the stock to 1,845 rupees by next March from 1,915 rupees.

ONGC dropped as much as 1.7 percent as it reported a more-than-expected 24.5 percent drop in quarterly profit, as a rise in crude oil prices meant it had to make higher subsidy payouts.

Tata Consultancy dropped 0.7 percent, Infosys shed 0.8 percent and Wipro (WIPR.BO) lost nearly 1 percent, after glum outlooks issued by U.S. technology companies and downbeat comments from a U.S. Federal Reserve official.

Energy giant Reliance Industries, which has the highest weight on the Sensex, climbed 0.8 percent, after declining 4.1 percent in the previous two sessions on concerns over the delay in the ramp up of its gas production.

In the broader market, gainers led losers in a ratio of 1.6:1 on volume of 157 million shares.

For the week to July 28, India equity funds had their eighth-straight week of inflows while Asia ex-Japan had the biggest inflow in 14 weeks, according to EPFR Global.

The BSE index has risen 2.7 percent in the year to date, helped by foreign equity inflows of $9.3 billion since the start of January to July 28, data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India showed.

The 50-share NSE index was down 0.3 percent at 5,393.55.

STOCKS ON THE MOVE

* Kalpataru Power, which makes transmission line towers and is also into real estate development, rose 1.3 percent to 1,010 rupees after its April-June net profit rose 15 percent.

* Real estate firm Omaxe jumped 6.1 percent to 117.25 rupees on a 38.7 percent rise in quarterly profit.

* Titagarh Wagons rose 3.8 percent to 415.50 rupees after its April-June net profit jumped 84 percent.

MAIN TOP THREE BY VOLUME

* Aster Silicates on 10.2 million shares

* Spicejet on 8.5 million shares

* IFCI on 3.8 million shares

(For more business news on Reuters India click in.reuters.com)