INDIA STOCKS Indian shares fall on decline in banks, Asian peers

BENGALURU, Oct 20 (Reuters) – Indian shares traded lower on Thursday, pressured by bank stocks and a dour sentiment in other Asian markets for risky assets as U.S. yields surged on fears that the Federal Reserve will continue on its aggressive rate-hike path.

The NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) was down 0.19% at 17,478.50 as of 0446 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) declined 0.19% to 58,996.72, after registering their biggest intraday percentage drop in a week. If losses hold, both indexes may snap four straight sessions of gains.

“The market has been in a consolidation zone with 17,000 being on the lower side and 17,550 on the higher side. It is now facing some selling pressure on the higher end of the range,” said Gaurav Dua, head of capital market strategy at Sharekhan, referring to Nifty levels.

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“We believe the market could spend some more time in this range.”

The Indian rupee slid to a record low for a second consecutive day on Thursday. “The rising dollar and U.S. bond yields will continue to be a potential headwind for equity markets till U.S. inflation starts showing a moderating trend,” said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

In broader Asia, Asia-Pacific shares, excluding Japan, (.MIAPJ0000PUS) fell to a more-than-two-year low, while the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note touched a fresh 14-year high.

In Mumbai trading, Nifty’s public sector bank (.NIFTYPSU) and private sector bank (.NIFPVTBNK) were the worst performers among other sub-indexes, shedding 1.27% and 0.92%, respectively.

Helping cap some of the losses, Nifty IT (.NIFTYIT) and fast-moving consumer goods (.NIFTYFMCG) rose 0.45% and 0.35%, respectively.

Nestle India Ltd (NEST.NS) climbed as much as 2% to an over two-month high after it reported a bigger-than-expected rise in third-quarter profit on Wednesday.

Cigarettes-to-consumer goods maker ITC Ltd (ITC.NS) changed course and was down 0.23%, ahead of its quarterly results.

($1 = 82.9880 Indian rupees)

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Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

source: reuters.com