Indian shares fall

Indian shares ended lower on Friday on losses in banks and Reliance Industries, taking the shine off a week in which the government's high-spending budget powered the blue-chip indexes to their first weekly gain in three.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) fell 0.25 per cent to 17,516.3 and the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) slipped 0.24 per cent to 58,644.82, also weighed down by lingering worries around interest rates and inflation.

The indexes closed the week around 2.5 per cent stronger after the government lifted spending to boost the pandemic-hit economy.

The Nifty PSU Bank index (.NIFTYPSU), which tracks state-owned lenders, slid 1.9 per cent on Friday, with Bank of India (BOI.NS) dropping 3.3 per cent despite reporting a jump in quarterly profit and better asset quality.