Indian shares end lower

Indian shares closed lower on Wednesday, weighed down by banking stocks, though shares of the country’s biggest lender State Bank of India hit an all-time high after reporting a record quarterly profit.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index closed 0.33 per cent lower at 17,829.20, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.43 per centto end at 59,771.92.

Despite Wednesday’s losses, both indexes clocked gains of about 0.8 per cent each for the holiday-

shortened week, rebounding from last week’s sharp falls triggered by overvaluation concerns and heavy foreign selling.

In Mumbai trading, State Bank of India ended 1.1 per cent higher after touching an all-time peak earlier in the session.

The country’s largest lender reported a record quarterly profit as provisions for bad loans more than halved.

However, the broader Nifty Bank Index fell 1.34 per cent, snapping a two-day winning streak.

The Nifty Auto Index lost 1.04 per cent, after gaining for three consecutive sessions on the back of strong October sales for automakers and an upbeat earnings report by Tata Motors.