Share market off to a muted start; Hindustan Unilever drops on profit miss

Stock market today: The domestic shares were off to a muted start on Thursday, as dull earnings and persistent foreign selling weighed, while consumer major Hindustan Unilever fell on smaller-than-expected September quarter profit.

The NSE Nifty 50 .NSEI was 0.01 per cent higher at 24,440.8 points as of 9:18 a.m. IST, while S&P BSE Sensex .BSESN inched up 0.12 per cent to 80,182.32.

The Nifty 50 has lost 1.7 per cent in the three sessions this week and is down about 6 per cent since hitting a record high on Sept. 17, dragged down by foreign selling and largely lacklustre earnings.

Hindustan Unilever HLL.NS dropped 4 per cent after the Dove soap maker posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, hurt by a slowdown in urban markets and higher costs. FMCG index .NIFTYFMCG fell 1.5 per cent and was the top sectoral loser by percentage.

"Bears continue to assert control as intraday bounces are consistently sold off," said Rajesh Bhosale, equity analyst at Angel One.

Asian markets opened lower, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index .MIAPJ0000PUS dropping 0.3 per cent. Wall Street equities settled lower overnight amid investors' reluctance to place major bets ahead of the US presidential election. MKTS/GLOB

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Indian shares for the eighteenth straight session on Wednesday, redirecting funds to China on stimulus measures and relatively cheaper valuations.

Ten of the 13 major sectors logged losses. The broader, more domestically focused small- .NIFSMCP100 and mid-caps .NIFMDCP100 gained 0.4 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively.

Among individual stocks, AU Small Finance Bank AUFI.NS rose 3 per cent after posting a higher net profit in the September quarter.

Dr. Lal Pathlabs DLPA.NSjumped 3.7 per cent after reporting a bigger-than-expected profit in the September quarter on demand for medical tests.