Indian shares end lower on tech, auto losses; Paytm tumbles in debut
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BENGALURU - Indian shares on Thursday registered their first weekly loss for the month and ended the day lower, hurt by a downturn in technology and automobile stocks, while digital payments company Paytm dropped over 25% in its market debut.
The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.75% to 17,764.8, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.62% at 59,636.01.
The two indexes closed the holiday-truncated week nearly 2% lower to snap three consecutive weeks of gains, as global inflation worries and valuation concerns soured investor sentiment.
Paytm, backed by China's Ant Group and Japan's SoftBank, dropped over 25%, with investors questioning the lofty valuations it gained in the country's largest-ever initial public offering.
Auto stocks were the biggest losers among sectors, dropping over 2% to snap two straight sessions of wins, with Tata Motors tumbling nearly 4% to lead losses on the Nifty 50 index.
Tech stocks fell nearly 2%, with HCL Technologies dropping nearly 3% at close.
Sapphire Foods India, a domestic franchisee of KFC and Pizza Hut operator Yum Brands, gained 2.7% in its market debut.
Meanwhile, agro machinery maker Escorts Ltd jumped to a record high after Japan's Kubota Corp said it will raise its stake in the company to as much as 44.8%.
State-owned loss-making telecom firm Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd soared as much as 15% after news reports of a government package worth nearly 1.3 trillion rupees ($17.54 billion) to revive state-run telecom companies.
