Indian shares closed lower on Wednesday amid a slew of disappointing news, with Bajaj Finance Ltd and Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd weighing the most on the NSE index. Domestic share markets witnessed a sharp selloff in the previous two sessions as investors were worried about a surcharge on foreign portfolio investors that was announced in the Union budget last week.
The broader NSE index closed down 0.49% at 11,498.90, while the benchmark BSE index settled 0.45% lower at 38,557.04.
Also, dampening investor sentiment were renewed concerns over trade tension between the United States and India after US President Donald Trump once again warned the Asian country that its high tariffs were not acceptable.
Shares of Indiabulls Housing Finance closed 4% lower, while Bajaj Finance ended down 4.8%.
Tata Motors Ltd closed 2.66% lower, after the automaker said luxury car unit Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc saw a near 10% decline in monthly sales. Ahead of the Indo-US trade talks on Friday, US President Donald Trump once again warned the Asian country that its high tariffs were not acceptable. In May, India imposed higher tariffs on 28 US products, including almonds and apples.
The markets witnessed a sharp selloff in the last two sessions as investors were worried about a surcharge on foreign portfolio investors.
"The finance minister will clarify about the surcharge and may find resolving the issue challenging as the government can't have different tax policy for domestic and global investors," Choksey said.
Shares of Tata Motors Ltd were top losers on the NSE index, with a 3.5% fall, hitting their lowest since Feb. 11. Shares of Tata Consultancy Services were down as much as 2.91%, their lowest in over six weeks.