Indian Shares Tumble On Rupee, RBI Comments.

Indian shares fell sharply on Friday, tracking weakness in the rupee after the RBI Governor D Subbarao warned of upside risks to inflation and said the current account deficit would be a key factor in monetary policy decisions, denting rate cut hopes. Meanwhile, investors await March-quarter GDP data due around 11.00 am for further clues on the health of the domestic economy.

Other Asian markets are trading mostly higher as somewhat weaker than expected U.S. economic data on initial jobless claims, pending home sales and GDP growth eased concerns that the Federal Reserve would scale back its stimulus program.

The benchmark Sensex is down 237 points or 1.2 percent to 19,978, while the broader Nifty index is down 78 points or 1.28 percent at 6,046.

Banks are coming under pressure as the Reserve Bank of India tightened rules on restructuring loans. SBI is down 0.7 percent, PNB and ICICI Bank are down about a percent each and HDFC Bank is declining 2.7 percent.

Jet Airways is tumbling 4.2 percent after its chairman Naresh Goyal bought a 37 percent stake in the airline from another promoter entity, increasing his direct stake in the company to about 66 percent.

Berger Paints, Suzlon Energy and MMTC are down 3-5 percent on disappointing fourth-quarter results. DLF is losing 2 percent after it slipped into a net loss in the fourth quarter.

Gillette India is rallying 4.4 percent after the consumer goods major got an interim relief from the Securities Appellate Tribunal on meeting the minimum public shareholding requirement, the deadline for which expires on Monday.

Bharat Electronics is climbing 4.4 percent after its standalone Q4 profit jumped 78 percent from a year earlier. Havells India is edging up marginally after global equity firm Warburg Pincus sold its entire stake in the company.

Indian shares reversed early losses to end modestly higher on Thursday, with better-than-expected earnings from Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra supporting sentiment. The benchmark 30-share Sensex ended the session up 68 points or 0.34 percent at 20,215, while the broader Nifty index rose by 20 points or 0.32 percent to 6,124.

Source : rttnews.com