Indian shares fell nearly 1 percent on Thursday, with ICICI Bank and engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro leading the drop, as investors took profits after a two-month rally. State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp shed 1.7 percent after a government share sale in the country's largest oil producer received bids for only about two-thirds the shares on offer, television channels said.
Exchange data was not clear on the final amount of bids, and bankers and officials at the Department of Disinvestment were not available. The stock closed at 288.20 rupees, below the floor price of 290. The government had aimed to raise at least $2.5 billion through the sale of a 5 percent stake. The main 30-share BSE index closed down 0.95 percent, or 168.71 points, at 17,583.97, with 24 of its components in the red.
ICICI Bank shed 2.5 percent and bigger rival State Bank of India dropped 1.3 percent, as investors took profits. The banking sector index has risen nearly 31 percent since the end of 2011, about double the gain in the BSE index over the same period, on expectation interest rates would be cut to help slowing growth.
Larsen & Toubro dropped 2.3 percent, falling for a second day, after the company missed out on a 160-billion-rupee bulk tender by utility NTPC. Maruti Suzuki, the country's biggest car maker, bucked the trend and rallied 4.8 percent after its February sales rose 6.5 percent from a year ago.
DLF Ltd, India's largest listed developer, closed down 5.5 percent at 214.05 rupees after Canadian investment research firm Veritas recommended selling the stock, saying the share was worth 100 rupees. The 50-share NSE index fell 0.84 percent to 5,339.75. In the broader market, there were 1.5 losers for every gainer on volume of 863.35 million shares.
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