Tata Motors drags Indian shares lower on record loss

Tata Motors dragged Indian shares to lower on Friday as the automaker posted its worst quarterly loss and trimmed profit margin guidance for its British luxury car unit for the current fiscal year.

Tata Motors shares dived as much as 29.5 per cent to 129 rupees, their lowest since Feb.8, 2010. Stock posted its biggest intraday fall since July 8, 2003.

The automaker has been under pressure due to troubles at its British unit Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), which has been hit hard by US-China trade tensions, low demand for diesel cars in Europe and Brexit worries.

After trading hours on Thursday, Tata Motors posted its worst quarterly loss of 269.93 billion rupees ($3.79 billion) due to an impairment charge of $3.9 billion for JLR, reports Reuters.

The broader NSE index was down 0.6 per cent at 11,003.50, as of 0540 GMT, while the benchmark BSE index slipped 0.58 per cent to 36,755.82.

Auto stocks were the biggest drag, with Nifty auto index falling as much as 3.2 per cent. Eicher Motors Ltd lost up to 2.9 per cent.

Financial stocks also lost footing. ICICI Bank Ltd, among the top laggards, lost as much 1.9 per cent, while State Bank of India declined up to 1.8 per cent.