* BSE falls 1.21 pct, NSE falls 1.23 percent
* Focus shifts to July-September earnings
* Reliance slumps on brokerage downgrade
By Abhishek Vishnoi
MUMBAI, Oct 8 (Reuters) - India's main stock index fell fora second straight session on Monday, marking its biggest dailyfall since July 27, as profit-taking, coupled with businessoutlook concerns, hit recent outperformers such as RelianceIndustries.
DLF Ltd
slumped after anti-corruption activistsaccused India's biggest property developer of improper dealingswith the son-in-law of ruling party chief Sonia Gandhi, whichwas denied by both the company and the person.
Indian shares were due for a consolidation, analysts said,as the focus shifts to the quarterly earnings reporting season,after the benchmark index
hit 17-months highs lastweek. Infosys
is due to report earnings on Friday.
Comments from Finance Minister P. Chidambaram about plans tounveil a "feasible" fiscal plan and his support for thegovernment's recent reform measures had muted impact given theywere seen as re-iterating his previous stance.
"Markets are getting consolidated. From Friday, earningswill begin. The street will focus more on quarterly numbers,"said Vaibhav Sanhghvi, director at Ambit Capital.
"From now on, markets will get aligned and will react theway the numbers come."
The BSE index
fell 1.21 percent, or 229.48 points,to end at 18,708.98 points after hitting on Friday its highestintraday level since May 2, 2011.
The 50-share NSE index
fell 1.23 percent, or 70.95points, to end at 5,676 points, having hit its highest intradaylevel since April 28, 2011 on Friday.
Infosys
fell 1.5 percent, down for a fourthconsecutive session, ahead of its Q2 results expected on Friday.
Investors worry the software service exporter will have tocut its guidance to reflect the stronger rupee
and apotential weakening in global demand.
Reliance Industries
fell 4.5 percent after MorganStanley cuts its rating to 'underweight' from 'equal-weight',citing expectations for weaker refining margins and valuationconcerns among other factors.
Shares in the energy conglomerate had gained 2.9 percentover the previous three sessions.
Profit-taking hit Indian banks after recent fiscal andeconomic reforms had sparked a rally in the sector by raisingthe prospect of potential interest rate cuts from the centralbank.
State Bank of India
shares fell 3 percent aftersurging 21.5 percent from the start of September to Friday'sclose. ICICI Bank
dropped 1.4 percent.
India's biggest property developer DLF Ltd
dropped
7.3 percent, posting its biggest daily fall since Feb. 22, asinvestors worried about the fallout from the allegations aboutimporter transactions levelled by the activists on Friday.
The company and Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law, Robert Vadra,denied the accusations over the weekend.
Shares in Hindalco Industries
fell 3.6 percentafter Citigroup downgraded the non-ferrous metals producer to'sell' from 'buy' citing risks such as rising costs for fuel andmaterials, as well as slower clearance for projects.
However, among gainers, telecom stocks rose after an Indianministerial panel on Monday approved a proposal to charge mobilephone carriers a one-time fee for their existingsecond-generation airwave holdings based on a price to bedetermined by an upcoming auction.
Bharti Airtelrose 1.8 percent, while IDEACellularrose 3.6 percent.
Shares in Indian infrastructure companies gained as thegovernment continued its push to bolster the sagging sector,announcing plans to set up a special body this week to speed upprojects in the sector
IVRCL
rose 1.45 percent, after dropping 11.7percent in the previous two sessions after Essel Group unitssold a combined 5.54 million shares in the Indian constructionfirm.
For additional stocks on the move double click
FACTORS TO WATCH
* FOREX-Dollar, yen recover on growth, earnings worries
* Brent slips below $111 after China growth warning
* Global growth worries hit shares and oil
* Foreign institutional investor flows
* For closing rates of Indian ADRs
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(Additional reporting by Manoj Dharra; Editing by Rafael Nam)
((abhishek.vishnoi@thomsonreuters.com)(+91 22 61807225)(ReutersMessaging)(abhishek.vishnoi.reuters.com@reuters.)(net))
Keywords: MARKETS INDIA STOCKS