Indian shares slip as financials fall, Sensex, Nifty drop in opening hours

Sensex drops 206.67 points to 51,897.50 in opening session; Nifty slips 54.65 points to 15,258.80

Indian shares retreated from record highs on Wednesday as investors sold off high-flying financial stocks and Nestle slid after disappointing earnings.

People look at a screen displaying the Sensex results on the facade of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India. (REUTERS)

The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.35% at 15,261.95 by 0355 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex was 0.42% lower at 51,883.07.

The top three drags on the Nifty 50 were HDFC Bank , mortgage lender HDFC and Axis Bank , followed by Nestle India, which fell 4%.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone gained 4.6% after it earmarked $1.4 billion to develop a new port.

Other Asian stock markets were also largely weaker, after a mixed close on Wall Street overnight.