Indian shares end three-day rally as IT, financial stocks weigh
Indian shares fell more than 1% on Thursday, snapping three sessions of gains, as losses in financial and information technology stocks eclipsed gains in automakers.
The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index dropped 1.24% to 17,560.2 and the S&P BSE Sensex slid 1.29% to 58,788.02.
Both the indexes added 4% in the past three sessions, with a rally sparked by the country's high-spending federal budget accounting for most of those gains.
Sentiment was also weaker globally on Thursday after a disappointing forecast from Facebook owner Meta Platforms sent its stock 20% lower and sparked a 2% drop in Nasdaq futures.
In Mumbai, the Nifty IT index slid 2.1% after gaining nearly 7% over the last four sessions, with IT giant Infosys falling 2.7%.
The Nifty Financial Services index fell 1.4% as top mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp dropped 3.3% in its worst day since late November.
Mahindra And Mahindra Financial Services tumbled 5.3%, its biggest fall since mid-November, as analysts flagged concerns about its asset quality.
Tyre makers JK Tyre and Birla Tyres dropped 2.3% and 2.9%, respectively, after India's antitrust agency fined them for price cartelisation.
Jeweller and watch maker Titan Company rose as much as 1.7% after posting strong quarterly results, but pared some gains to settle only 0.4% higher.
The Nifty Auto index advanced 0.4%, led by strong gains in two-wheeler makers TVS Motor and Hero MotoCorp.
Defence equipment maker Bharat Dynamics surged 3.3% after signing a $419 million contract to supply anti-tank missiles to the Indian army.
Conglomerate ITC rose 1% ahead of its quarterly results.
(Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)