Indian shares lower

31 Aug, 2018

Indian shares ended marginally lower on Thursday, as gains in consumer and healthcare were offset by losses in financial stocks, in volatile trade due to expiry of derivatives contracts at the end of the session.
The benchmark BSE index closed down 0.08 percent at 38,690.10, while the broader NSE index ended 0.13 percent lower at 11,676.8.
Bajaj Finance ltd ended 1.9 percent lower, while Indusind Bank Ltd closed 1.6 percent weaker.
Meanwhile, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd was the top gainer on the nifty index, ended 3 percent firmer, while Tata Steel Ltd closed up 2.4 percent.
Gains in consumer and materials stocks were offset by losses in financials, and Asian stocks surrendered earlier gains as Chinese markets fixed on risks from the Sino-US trade war.
"There is obviously some profit-booking, plus the F&O (futures and options) expiry today, all those things might have led to some pause in the overall momentum," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Securities.
Financial stocks like Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd dropped 1.5 percent to their lowest since August 24, while IndusInd Bank Ltd fell 1.6 percent to its lowest since May 24.
"Banks were outperforming Nifty for the last 2 weeks, some profit-booking might have happened, especially given the F&O expiry. Bond yields have hit highest in two months, that is another reason of concern for banks to be down. The rupee impacted bond yields, which has impacted bank stocks," Khemka said. India's benchmark bond yield opened at 7.93 percent from its previous close of 7.92 percent, while the rupee extended its fall to hit a fresh low of 70.825 per dollar.

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