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BENGALURU- Indian shares fell for a fifth session on Tuesday and hit their lowest in nearly two months, weighed down by tech and finance stocks, while Fed chief Jerome Powell's re-nomination reinforced expectations the United States would taper its stimulus soon.

By 0512 GMT, the blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index slipped 0.2% to 17,382.25 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.36% to 58,256.93, after shedding about 2% on Monday.

Asian peers also slipped, tracking a retreat on Wall Street overnight after President Joe Biden picked Powell to lead the central bank for a second term, as traders prepared for the imminent end to the large-scale coronavirus-led emergency Fed bond-buying programme. [MKTS/GLOB]

In Mumbai, the Nifty IT Index fell 2.17%, dragged by a 2.1% drop in Infosys Ltd.

Most other sub-indexes were in positive territory after opening lower, with the Nifty Metal index rising as much as 3.05% to lead the gains.

"The markets are recovering from lows of 17,200, and this recovery is happening in quality stocks like metals and defence," said AK Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capital.

China's benchmark iron ore futures surged 10% in early trade, as steelmakers were set to resume production after rigorous controls over the past few months.

Shares of Vedanta Ltd were set for their best day in more than a month after a report https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/promoters-looking-to-up-stake-in-vedanta-ltd-by-upto-4-57-121112201337_1.html that its promoters were looking to buy up to 170 mln shares of the mining company.

Other metal stocks such as Steel Authority of India Ltd and JSW Steel rose 3.60% and 4.01%, respectively.

Digital payments start-up Paytm rose as much as 6.97% after two sessions of sharp falls.

Latent View Analytics opened at a 160% premium to its offer price, giving the data analytics firm a market valuation of $1.36 billion.