Indian shares muted as profit-booking offsets IT gains
Eleven of the 13 major sectors log losses
Small-caps, mid-caps drop about 0.6% each
Metals fall on court order allowing states to recover past tax dues on minerals
Hero MotoCorp falls on missing June quarter profit estimates
Investors await U.S. consumer price data, due after India market hours
Updates at close
By Bharath Rajeswaran and Hritam Mukherjee
BENGALURU, Aug 14 (Reuters) -Indian shares closed little changed on Wednesday, as broad-based profit booking offset gains in information technology (IT) stocks aftersoft U.S. producer price data signalled cooling inflation.
The NSE Nifty 50 index .NSEI ended 0.02% higher at 24,143.75 points, and the S&P BSE Sensex .BSESN added 0.19% to 79,105.88.
The IT index .NIFTYIT gained 1.58% after data showed that U.S. producer prices rose less than expected in July, indicating a cooling economy and boosting hopes of a September rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
IT companies are sensitive to the U.S. economic outlook as they earn a significant share of their revenue from the country.
Focus is now on the U.S. consumer price data for July, due after Indian market hours, to confirm bets of a likely aggressive 50 basis-point rate cut in September.
Barring IT, eleven ofthe other 12 major indexes logged losses. The broader small-cap .NIFSMCP100 and mid-caps .NIFMDCP100 shed about 0.6%each.
"While the benchmarks remained flat, the broad-based sell-off suggests that bears are gradually resuming control," said Sameet Chavan, head of research of technicals and derivatives at Angel One.
Analysts expect bouts of profit-booking in Indian equities to continue in the near termdue to high valuations and a lacklustreearnings season.
Metal stocks .NIFTYMETlost 1.26% after India's apex court allowed states to recover past tax dues on minerals - a move that could lead to higher expenses and weaker earnings in the sector, according to analysts.
Coal India COAL.NS shed 3.27%, while Tata Steel TISC.NS shed about 2%.
Two-wheeler maker and Nifty 50-member HeroMotoCorp HROM.NS fell 3.3%after missing June-quarter profit estimates.
Pharma ingredients maker Divi's Laboratories DIVI.NSlost 4.11% on the rising risk of a sooner-than-expected entry of generic versions of its top drug. Divi's was the top Nifty 50 loser by percentage.
Indian markets will be closed on Thursday for a holiday. Trading will resume on Friday, Aug. 16.
Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman
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