Indian shares fall

Indian shares closed down on Wednesday, reversing early gains, as investors turned cautious and booked profits after a recent rally that pushed up the benchmark index to its highest close in nearly seven months in the previous session. The 30-share BSE index closed down 1.54 percent, or 283.36 points, at 18,145.25, with 24 of its components in the red.
The market is now looking towards the federal budget and central bank policy review, both due in mid-March, for positive triggers, dealers said. Financials led the losses with the country's top lender State Bank of India closing 8.05 percent lower at 2,255 rupees, while its private sector rival ICICI Bank settled 3.39 percent lower at 957.70 rupees. "The market had a run-up ahead of the budget itself and is seeing some correction now," said Deven Choksey, managing director of K. R. Choksey.
The central bank reviews policy on March 15, and the government will unveil its annual budget the following day. In the broader market, there were 1,268 losers against 227 gainers on volume of 1.30 billion shares. "The outlook for the market is firm. There is enough liquidity that could lead to further upside," said Suresh Parmar, associate vice president institutional equities at KJMC Capital Markets. The 50-share NSE index ended down 1.82 percent at 5,505.35.
"Market is set to move up. The rollovers so far suggest investors are pretty aggressive, confident and building positions ahead of the budget-month," Samir Gilani, head of equities and derivatives at Mape Securities said. Kingfisher Airlines ended lower 5.98 percent after gaining in early trade after banking sources told Reuters its lenders have not agreed to extend further loans to the debt-crippled carrier.
Several newspapers had reported earlier Wednesday that State Bank of India (SBI) would throw a lifeline to Kingfisher, which is majority-owned by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, giving figures ranging from 2.0 to 16.5 billion rupees ($40-335 million). Shares in Jet Airways India closed down 9.17 percent and Spicejet down 8.89 percent, after Bank of America Merrill Lynch retained its "underperform" rating on the two carriers.