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Sensex, Nifty fall as Reliance drags on profit taking, autos decline
Oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Reliance’s shares fell as much as 4.9% after eight days of gains, that pushed the company’s market capitalization to more than 13 trillion rupees ($173.82 billion).
Indian shares ended lower on Wednesday as investors took profits in the country’s most valuable stock Reliance Industries after an eight-day rally, while weak earnings at Maruti Suzuki weighed on auto stocks.
The NSE Nifty 50 index ended down 0.86% at 11,202.85 and the S&P BSE Sensex finished 1.1% lower at 38,071.13.
Oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Reliance’s shares fell as much as 4.9% after eight days of gains, that pushed the company’s market capitalization to more than 13 trillion rupees ($173.82 billion).
Reliance dragged the Nifty energy index down 1.6%, with refiner Bharat Petroleum also falling 1.7%.
Reuters reported, citing company officials, that Indian refiners are cutting crude processing and shutting units for maintenance as local fuel demand falls and global refining margins are weak.
However, global shares rose slightly, with the MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 49 countries, rising around 0.1%, as investors hoped the U.S. Federal Reserve would continue its accommodative stance.
In Mumbai, the Nifty auto index fell about 1.2% as Maruti reported a quarterly loss, for the three months to June, for the first time since its listing in 2003.
Shares of Maruti, India’s biggest automaker by market share, fell as much as 2.5%, while rival carmaker Mahindra and Mahindra shed 2.7% and motorcycle maker Hero Motocorp dropped 2.3%.
The Nifty IT index also dropped about 0.9%, after gaining for three days in a row. HCL Technologies declined 2.7%.
Food and beverage giant Nestle India Ltd was down 2.8% after the company reported a marginal rise in profit for the June quarter on Tuesday.
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, however, topped the Nifty gainers on Wednesday and rose 5.28% after the company reported a profit that beat estimates.
