Indian shares fall as retail inflation breaches RBI's 4% target

Indian stocks fell on Wednesday after a jump in retail inflation raised concerns the central bank may raise policy rates in 2018.

india trader
Reuters

Indian stocks fell on Wednesday after a jump in retail inflation raised concerns the central bank may raise policy rates in 2018.

India's retail inflation of 4.88 in November breached the Reserve Bank of India's medium-term target of 4 percent.

Last week, the RBI held rates unchanged, despite having faced some pressure to cut rates to aid growth. The central bank's increased concern about inflation has prompted it to hold rates since a trim in August.

The RBI will hold its next policy review in February.

The S&P BSE Sensex lost 0.53 percent at 33,053 while the broader NSE Nifty declined 0.46 percent to 10,192.

Among the top Sensex laggards, Cipla fell 2.1 percent, Adani Ports declined 1.6 percent, State Bank of India lost 1.4 percent while ICICI Bank was down 1.2 percent.

Unitech's shares slipped 14 percent after the Supreme Court allowed the government to take over the management of the embattled firm.

Market breadth was in the favour of gainers, with about 2 stocks advancing to every 1 stock that declined.

Asian shares edged up as crude oil futures took back lost ground. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.1 percent.

Investors continued their policy vigil with the Federal Reserve set to end its two-day meeting on Wednesday, while the European Central Bank meets on Thursday.

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