Indian shares fall as metals, banking weigh

BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian shares slipped on Friday, dragged by metals and financial stocks, with sentiment dented further by worries about an early tapering of monetary stimulus by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

By 0508 GMT, the blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.84% at 16,429.75, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.67% to 55,257.41.

The Nifty Metal index dropped 3.98%, dragged by shares of Hindalco, Jindal Steel, NMDC and Tata Steel — all down between 4.9% and 6.3%. Analysts said a fall was likely a correction in the sector, which has rallied over the past few weeks.

“The market fall also has to do with the U.S. Federal policy and whether they might start a rate reversal regime earlier than expected,” Gaurav Garg, head of research at CapitalVia Global Research in Indore said, adding that the market is likely to be volatile over the next few days.

He also said that while flows from foreign institutional investors — which was robust for the last 2-3 weeks — might taper and add pressure on the Nifty 50, this is unlikely to have an impact in the long run.

Banking stocks dropped as much as 1.62%, dragged by HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, and IndusInd Bank, among others.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank fell as much as 7.8% to an all-time low on news of its CEO Nitin Chugh resigning.

Auto-maker Eicher Motors fell as much as 2.6% after media reports that shareholders voted down the reappointment of its managing director Siddhartha Lal.

CarTrade Tech, an online classifieds platform for used cars, fell as much as 7.1% on its stock market debut.

Among broader markets, Asian shares extended losses on Friday from the 2021 low set a day earlier, while the dollar held onto its recent gains sitting at a nine-month high.

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