(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Indian stocks declined, with the benchmark index ending a three-day advance, as lenders and cement makers retreated.

Housing Development Finance Corp, the country's largest mortgage lender, and State Bank of India, dropped for a second day. ACC tumbled to a three-week low after its second- quarter net income missed estimates, while Prism Cement fell the most in two months. Tata Motors, owner of Jaguar Land Rover, was the worst performer on the S&P BSE Sensex. Vedanta slid 1.6%.

The Sensex dropped 0.2% to 28,420.12 at the close in Mumbai. The gauge climbed 2.9% last week as concern about Greece's crisis and a collapse in Chinese stocks eased.

The monsoon session of parliament begins today and the opposition parties are threatening to block Prime Minister Narendra Modi's economic agenda unless key members of his party resign over scandals involving cricket and deaths linked to fraud in state-run bureaucratic entrance exams.

"Investors are waiting for cues from corporate earnings and the parliament session after a good run last week," Alex Mathews, the head of research at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd, said by phone from the southern state of Kerala.

Modi is seeking to pass bills needed to implement a national sales tax by April - one of the nation's biggest reform proposals in decades. Investors are growing impatient with promises that aren't backed by action: The Sensex up 30% in 2014 following Modi's win, is up 3% this year.

HDFC Bank, the most valuable lender, Infosys, Lupin and Hindustan Unilever are among Sensex companies reporting June-quarter earnings this week. Earnings at the 30 companies in the gauge fell for a second straight quarter in the three months ended March.

Housing Development declined 0.9% and State Bank lost 1.4%. Bank of India dropped 3.2%, while Bank of Baroda decreased 2.1%.

ACC tumbled 2.1%. Prism Cement plunged 4.9%. Tata Motors decreased 1.8%. Vedanta lost 1.6%.

The Sensex has risen 3.4% this year and trades at 15.8 times projected 12-month profits. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index is valued at a multiple of 11.5.

Overseas investors bought a net $142.3mn of Indian stocks on July 16,
taking this year's inflows to $7.3bn.

Meanwhile in the spot market, the rupee weakened 0.3% yesterday to 63.6675 a dollar, according to prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg. The central bank's intervention is only to mitigate volatility, Deputy Governor Urjit Patel said in an interview with the CNBC Awaaz television channel earlier this month.

A gauge of expected swings in India's rupee slumped to a seven-year low on speculation cheaper oil will help cut the current-account deficit and the central bank will intervene to keep the exchange rate stable.