India's Sensex drops; Lenders drag as RBI disappoints

Indian shares fell on Thursday, dragged lower by financials after the central bank cut interest rates on expected lines, but failed to provide any clues on future rate cuts.

India trader
Reuters

Indian shares fell on Thursday, dragged lower by financials after the central bank cut interest rates on expected lines, but failed to provide any clues on future rate cuts.

The Reserve Bank of India cut its policy rate by 25 basis points to 6 percent on Wednesday, the lowest since November 2010, in line with market expectations.

Sentiment was also weak after an index measuring key services sector dropped to lowest since 2013 due to the disruption caused by rollout of the goods and services tax.

The S&P BSE Sensex shed 0.74 percent to 32,237 while the broader NSE Nifty declined 0.67 percent to 10,013.

S&P BSE Bankex Index fell 1.7 percent, dragged down by. Punjab National Bank, Axis Bank and State Bank of India.

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group stocks fell. Reliance Communications slumped 8 percent, Reliance Defence fell 2.5 percent, Reliance Power lost 3.5 percent while Reliance Capital dropped 1.3 percent.

Entertainment Network India lost 4.5 percent after its net profit for June quarter declined nearly 70 percent.

Among the gainers, Fortis Healthcare rose 6.5 percent after a huge block deal.

Market breadth was in the favour of losers, with about 2 stocks declining to every 1 stock that advanced.

Meanwhile, stocks in Asia took a pause after equities surged to the highest level in almost 10 years.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.6 percent, with South Korea's tech-heavy Kospi index on course to drop 1.6 percent.

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