INDIA STOCKS-IT shares drag India stock benchmarks lower; Bihar election results eyed

Updates for morning trade

By Bharath Rajeswaran

Nov 14 (Reuters) - India's equity benchmarks fell on Friday, dragged down by information technology stocks as bets for a near-term U.S. rate cut faded.

Volatility is expected to pick up through the session as vote counts from the northern state of Bihar trickle in. Early trends show the ruling National Democratic Alliance, which includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party, in the lead.

The Nifty 50 .NSEI slipped 0.29% to 25,803.95, while the BSE Sensex .BSESN shed 0.30% to 84,226.50 as of 9:54 a.m. IST.

Both the benchmarks gained about 1.5% each in the last four sessions.

Nine of the 16 major sectors logged losses, though the broader small-caps .NIFSMCP100 and mid-caps .NIFMDCP100 rose about 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively.

IT companies .NIFTYIT, which earn a significant share of revenue from the U.S., dropped 1.3% after hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials dampened hopes for a December rate cut. MKTS/GLOB

"A growing number of Fed policymakers are signalling hesitation about further rate cuts, weighing on market sentiment," said Devarsh Vakil, head of prime research at HDFC Securities.

Analysts said any market reaction to the Bihar election results will be only temporary, but an NDA win will be viewed as a positive as it reaffirms policy continuity and government stability, two analysts said.

Among individual stocks, Bharat Dynamics BARA.NS jumped 5.3% after signing 20.96 billion-rupee ($238.5 million) contract with the Ministry of Defence and posting a sharp rise in quarterly profit.

Gold loan financier Muthoot Finance MUTT.NS climbed 9.4% after posting a quarterly profit jump, and raising its loan growth outlook on strong loan demand and soaring prices of gold.

Domino's India operator Jubilant Foodworks JUBI.NS jumped 8.2% on a three-fold rise in second-quarter profit, helped by steady demand for its affordable pizzas and combo deals.

Tata Motors TATM.NS fell 2% on reporting a loss in the September quarter.

($1 = 87.8950 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy, Subhranshu Sahu and Harikrishnan Nair)

((bharath.rajeswaran@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9769003463;))