Indian shares seesawed between positive and negative territories on Wednesday, a day ahead of the April derivatives contract expiry amid a holiday truncated week. Continued sales by foreign portfolio investors amid fresh worries on retrospective taxes, and a delay in earnings recovery and land acquisition bill hurt sentiment.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has delayed a bill that will make it easier for industry to buy farmland, following anger over rising rural distress and the suicide of a farmer in India's capital. Overseas investors, who have been net sellers in April so far after adjusting for foreign subscription to Daiichi Sankyo's share sale in Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, sold shares worth 15.33 billion rupees ($242.5 million) on Tuesday.
Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) fell ahead of its quarterly earnings later in the day. "Largely the unwinding has taken place due to tax worries and land acquisition bill being in limbo," said Deven Choksey, managing director at K R Choksey Securities. The benchmark BSE index fell 0.1 percent, while the broader NSE index edged 0.02 percent lower.
HDFC fell 1.1 percent. Among other blue-chip stocks, ITC lost 2.3 percent and Tata Motors fell 1.5 percent. Telecommunications stocks also fell as their January-March earnings failed to enthuse investors. Idea Cellular is down 3.5 percent giving up earlier gains of as much as 4 percent. Bharti Airtel lost 0.8 percent.