Indian shares fell nearly 1.5 percent on Wednesday, marking their biggest single-day percentage fall in nearly 1-1/2 months, as bluechips slumped on profit-booking after three consecutive sessions of gains. Some traders cited heavy basket selling in the main NSE index, meaning sales of entire batches of shares by investors in the last half hour of trading.
Sentiment was also hit after foreign institutional investors sold 6.68 billion rupees worth of Indian equity derivatives on Tuesday. Heavy overseas buying of over $1.2 billion in November so far has boosted domestic shares recently. Investors are also looking ahead for minutes from the US Federal Reserve's October meeting to garner clues about when it might start tapering its monetary stimulus.
"Basket selling was there but this would be more of a technical correction ahead of Fed minutes. I think one should still capitalise on dips by buying good stocks," said Deven Choksey, managing director at K R Choksey Securities. The benchmark BSE index fell 1.22 percent, or 255.69 points, to end at 20,635.13. It fell nearly 1.5 percent during the day, its biggest single-day percentage fall since September 30. The broader NSE index fell 1.3 percent, or 80.45 points, to end at 6,122.90, snapping its three-day winning streak.
Among bluechips, Reliance Industries Ltd ended 1.8 percent lower and Bharti Airtel Ltd slumped 2.1 percent. Lenders, which were among the recent biggest gainers, retreated. ICICI Bank Ltd fell 3.3 percent, while HDFC Bank Ltd ended 1.6 percent lower.
The NSE bank index rose 6.3 percent in the previous three sessions compared with a 3.6 percent gain in the NSE index in the same period. Infosys Ltd fell 1.2 percent after hitting its highest level in nearly three years on Tuesday. However, among stocks that gained, Wyeth Ltd surged by the daily limit of 20 percent after saying its board will meet on Saturday to consider a merger with Pfizer Ltd, the Indian unit of US drug maker Pfizer Inc.
Shares in the Indian unit of Pfizer ended 4.9 percent higher. Sugar companies rose on hopes a government committee headed by Farm Minister Sharad Pawar may decide on Wednesday to announce financial assistance for struggling sugar mills as well as an increase in import duties on raw sugar to halt cheaper imports and strengthen domestic prices. Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd rose 14.1 percent, Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd jumped 8.1 percent and Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd gained 9.9 percent.
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