Sensex, Nifty fall on weak earnings, coronavirus-led global pessimism

Indian shares ended lower on Thursday as results from carmaker Maruti and engineering firm Larsen and Toubro fell short of expectations, with new lockdowns in Europe's biggest economies also hitting sentiment.

Ahead of the October derivatives expiry, the Nifty closed down 0.5 per cent at 11,670.8 and the Sensex ended 0.43 per cent lower at 39,749.85.

Larsen and Toubro (L&T) fell as much as 5.78 per cent, dragging down the Nifty infrastructure index as much as 1.27 per cent, after the industrial conglomerate reported a quarterly loss from continuing operations on a standalone basis on Wednesday.

India's biggest carmaker by market share Maruti Suzuki shed as much as 2.8 per cent after the company's profit missed estimates, though car sales rose during the quarter. The stock marked its sharpest intraday drop since September 24.

The domestic market was also pressured by concerns over the global economic recovery as Germany and France imposed new restrictions to contain a second wave of virus infections.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slumped 0.6 per cent overnight, while European shares struggled to stabilize. "Sentiment across the globe is a little fearful because there are concerns that things can go berserk because of the virus," said Deepak Shenoy, founder and chief executive officer, Capitalmind in Bengaluru.

India's coronavirus cases crossed a grim milestone of 8 million as of Thursday morning, health ministry data showed.

The Nifty financials index closed 0.7 per cent lower and the Nifty consumer goods index declined 0.96 per cent.

Watchmaker Titan Co slid 2.6 per cent after the company reported a drop in quarterly profit on Wednesday.

Asian Paints rose 2.9 per cent, topping gainers in the Nifty. Tech Mahindra rose 2.2 per cent. Telecom company Vodafone Idea is among the companies reporting earnings later in the day.