India's Sensex hold 33,000 as state-owned lenders extend gains

Indian shares scaled back on Thursday, a day after the benchmark index closed at an all-time high on the back of selling pressure in private-sector lenders such as ICICI Bank.

sensex
A man looks at a screen across a road displaying the Sensex on the facade of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India. REUTERS

Indian shares scaled back on Thursday, a day after the benchmark index closed at an all-time high on the back of selling pressure in private-sector lenders such as ICICI Bank.

The S&P BSE Sensex breached 33,000-mark for the first time on Wednesday as investors and analysts cheered the bank recapitalisation plan and road construction push to kickstart economic growth recovery.

At 0620 GMT, the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.05 percent at 33,026 while the broader NSE Nifty rose 0.12 percent to 10,307.

Offloading of positions by participants with Thursday being the last trading session of October series contracts in the derivatives segment pulled the index back from record levels, analysts said.

The S&P BSE PSU Index gained 1 percent. State-run lenders including Punjab National Bank, IDBI, Union Bank and Corporation Bank rose between 2 percent to 5 percent in Mumbai trading.

Private Bank stocks such as ICICI Bank lost 2.4 percent and HDFC Bank shed 1 percent.

Polaris Consulting & Services jumped 16 percent after the company said that its board to meet on October 31 to consider voluntary delisting.

HCL Infosystems lost 4 percent after the company said its net loss for the quarter widened to Rs 455.57 crore from Rs 37.13 crore a year ago.

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

Stocks in Asia were mixed following the biggest declines in seven weeks on Wall Street after a batch of soft earnings.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat. Australian stocks and South Korea's KOSPI .KS11 both inched down 0.1 percent.

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