Indian shares ended on Thursday a touch lower than three-month peaks scaled the previous day as investors fretted about a weak start to the annual monsoon rains, while the rupee rebounded along with the euro. The 30-share Bombay index slipped for the first time in four days, dipping 0.1 percent to 6900.41 points, but still within sniffing distance of its March 9 record high of 6,954.86.
Losses were limited by buying interest in petrochemicals and energy major Reliance Industries Ltd after French oil major Total unveiled an alliance with the index heavyweight.
"The market held together today only because of Reliance," Amish Shah of Vikram Kenia Securities said. "There is a growing concern about the monsoon among investors now. But if there is favourable news on this front, then market will hit a new high."
The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, a leading think tank, this week cut its forecast for growth to March 2006 to 6.0 percent from 6.6 percent on fears of a weak monsoon. The Indian central bank has forecast GDP growth of 7 percent this year.
Shares in Reliance Industries Ltd, with a 10.7pc weightage in the key index, rose 2.7pc to a three-month high after French oil-major Total said it would sell auto lubricants through Reliance petrol stations. But state-run oil companies slipped after the government put off a decision on raising fuel prices, which have been held steady since November, hurting their bottom lines.
Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd fell 0.6 percent and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd fell 0.5 percent. India's biggest oil producer, Oil and Natural Gas Corp, fell 1 percent. The yield on the actively traded 8.07 percent 2017 bond rose to 7.0588 percent from the previous day's close of 6.9980 percent.
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