* Foreign fund withdrawals rattle market
* ICICI Bank leads financials lower
* Ranbaxy drops again after U.S. FDA ban of some drugs
(Updates to mid-morning)
MUMBAI, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Indian shares fell more than 5
percent on Thursday, slipping below 13,000 points for the first
time since July 17, as emergency actions by central banks and
governments around the world failed to ease a financial crisis.
The seismic shift on Wall Street this week continued to
create a sense of global panic and triggering a flight of
foreign funds from Indian shares. Withdrawals in September have
reached $1.3 billion, taking the outflow to $8.7 billion in
2008.
Financials led the losses with No. 2 lender ICICI Bank
(ICBK.BO) dropping 5.6 percent to 529 rupees. In the previous
three sessions, it had lost 14 percent on worries the bank's
exposure to global credit markets could hurt its earnings.
The bank said on Tuesday it held 57 million euros ($81
million) of senior bonds issued by Lehman Brothers LEH.N
LEH.P, and would increase its provision on the debt by about
$28 million to cover half of that exposure. [ID:nBOM208199]
Brokerage Edelweiss Capital said it expected ICICI to post
about $200 million in losses on bonds, including debt issued by
Lehman.
"The U.S. financial crisis is deepening further. This is
likely to make domestic markets nervous," brokerage Reliance
Money said in a note.
By 11:03 a.m. (0502 GMT), the 30-share benchmark index
.BSESN was down 4.38 percent, or 581.15 points, at 12,674.01,
with all but one component in the red. It fell as much as 5.3
percent in early trade and is down nearly 38 percent in 2008.
Top listed firm Reliance Industries (RELI.BO) fell 3.7
percent to 1,804.90 as foreign funds pulled out, traders said.
Ranbaxy Laboratories (RANB.BO), which has agreed to be
taken over by Japan's Daiichi Sankyo (4568.T), fell 6.4 percent
to 355 rupees, a day after it fell 6.6 percent following a U.S.
move to block more than 30 generic drugs on procedural
violations in some of its plants in India. [nN16463558]
Asian stocks tumbled after Wall Street slid to a three-year
low on Wednesday as the U.S. rescue of insurer AIG failed to
ease a confidence crisis and banks were wary of lending to each
other.
On Wednesday, No. 2 U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley
(MS.N) and top U.S. savings and loan Washington Mutual (WM.N)
were reportedly up for sale.
In the broader market, 2,023 losers swamped 177 gainers on
volume of 99.5 million shares.
The 50-share NSE index was down 4.04 percent at
3,847.75.
Elsewhere in the region, Karachi's 100-share index
was down 0.04 percent at 9,212.70, while Colombo's All-share
index .CSE fell 1.01 percent to 2,257.28.
STOCKS ON THE MOVE
* Top lender State Bank of India (SBI.BO) shed 2.6 percent
to 1,489 rupees and leading mortgage firm Housing Development
Finance Corp (HDFC.BO) dropped 4 percent to 2,079.95 rupees on
shattered sentiment for the sector.
The sector index .BSEBANK dropped 5.1 percent.
* Gujarat NRE Coke Ltd (GJNC.BO) fell 12.4 percent to 58.30
rupees, a day after a Morgan Stanley unit sold nearly a sixth
of its 3.34 percent holding in the firm.
TOP THREE BY VOLUME
* S. Kumars Nationwide (SKMK.BO) on 7.3 million shares
* Electrosteel Castings (ELST.BO) on 3.2 million shares
* Motherson Sumi System (MOSS.BO) on 3 million shares
FACTORS TO WATCH
* Indian rupee eases as stocks fall, cbank eyed
[INR/]
* Indian bond yields rise on higher oil, tight cash
[IN/]
* FOREX-Dollar drops vs euro and yen on U.S. bank fears
[FRX/]
* Oil near $97 on equity rout, US crude stock fall
[O/R]
* Raw fear pummels stocks, helps bonds
[MKTS/GLOB]
* US STOCKS-Bank fears, AIG fallout drive Wall St sell-off
[.N]
* For closing rates of Indian ADRs
INADR
(Reporting by Narayanan Somasundaram; Editing by Ranjit
Gangadharan)
