Indian shares fall as banking stocks, Tata Steel drag

Indian shares slipped on Friday, dragged by financial stocks and heavyweight Tata Steel, with sentiment dented by Asian shares that fell on a stronger dollar and worries about an early tapering of stimulus by the PER CENT Federal Reserve.

By 0349 GMT, the blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) was down 0.71 per cent at 16,451.50, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) fell 0.59 per cent to 55,301.20.

Shares of Tata Steel (TISC.NS) fell 3.96 per cent in early trade. The steel major had rallied roughly 4 per cent at the start of this week, extending gains it had seen after posting a strong set of June-quarter numbers.

Banking stocks (.NSEBANK) dropped about 1.02 per cent, dragged by shares of HDFC Bank (HDBK.NS), State Bank of India (SBI.NS), and IndusInd Bank (INBK.NS), among others.

Auto-maker Eicher Motors (EICH.NS) fell as much as 2.6 per cent after media reports that shareholders voted down the reappointment of its managing director Siddhartha Lal.

CarTrade Tech, an online classifieds platform for used cars, and cement-maker Nuvoco Vistas will make their market debuts on Friday.

Among broader markets, Asian shares extended losses on Friday from the 2021 low set a day earlier, while the dollar held onto its recent gains sitting at a nine-month high.