Indian shares opened slightly lower on Wednesday, a day after the Sensex closed at a fresh high, as global markets retreated after blasts in Poland that local authorities said were caused by Russian-made missiles.
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The NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.17% to 18,372.40 as of 0346 GMT. The S&P BSE Sensex, which closed at a record high in the previous session, shed 0.22% to 61,735.17.
The decline was less than the 0.87% drop in MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan caused by the potential for a further ratcheting up of geopolitical tensions.
NATO member Poland said a Russian-made rocket killed two people in eastern Poland near Ukraine. Moscow denied it was responsible and U.S. President Joe Biden said early information suggested the blast may not have been caused by a missile fired from Russia.
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Among the biggest drags were Nifty’s fast-moving consumer goods and energy indexes, which slipped at least 0.3% each.
Nestle India, Hindalco, Asian Paints , Britannia Industries and Tata Consumer fell the most among the Nifty 50 constituents, losing between 1.1% and 0.71%.
RBL Bank gained 1.7%. CEO R. Subramaniakumar told Reuters it is looking to ramp up its retail exposure to protect its books from being over-exposed to large corporates.
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Paytm-parent One 97 Communications fell 2.9% to a five-month low as a one-year lock-in on its shares expired
Separately, India would exceed budget estimates for direct tax collection by 25%-30% in fiscal 2023, an income tax official from India’s finance ministry said.
Foreign institutional investors sold net 2.21 billion Indian rupees ($27.3 million) worth of equities on Tuesday, while domestic investors offloaded a net 5.49 billion rupees of shares, provisional data on the National Stock Exchange showed.
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($1 = 81.1000 Indian rupees)
