Indian shares fall for 4th day on weaker metals

Indian shares reversed early gains to end lower for a fourth straight session on Friday, dragged mostly by metal stocks, while investors geared up for earnings reports from oil-to-telecom giant Reliance Industries and other corporates.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) closed down 0.35 per centat 18,114.9, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) fell 0.17 per centto 60,821.62.

The two indexes also posted their first weekly loss in three, as equities continued to trade near record-high valuations and worries over the impact of rising commodity inflation on margins persisted. Selling would likely continue near record levels and the indexes would struggle to rise “till institutional buying has returned,” said Gaurav Garg, head of research at CapitalVia Global Research.

Domestic institutional investors sold a net $511 million worth in Indian capital markets in the last three sessions, according to Refinitiv data, while foreign institutional investors sold about $19.6 million worth of Indian equities in the same time.