Indian shares end lower; Airtel jumps on MSCI review

Friday,   15-Jan-2021   04:40 PM (IST)

Indian shares dropped the most in nearly four weeks on Friday, ending down over 1%, as investors locked in profits following the benchmark indexes hitting multiple record highs this week and as a proposed U.S. stimulus package failed to surprise. The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index and the S&P BSE Sensex each fell 1.1% to close at 14,433.70 and 49,034.67, respectively. The Nifty index rose for a third straight week, while the Sensex gained for an eleventh straight week, each gaining about 0.5%. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday outlined a $1.9 trillion stimulus proposal, saying bold investment was needed to jump-start the economy. Banks, financial institutions and information technology stocks were major laggards on the Nifty 50 index and analysts said sub-indexes including the Nifty bank index and the Nifty IT index were vulnerable for corrections after hitting record highs this week. The Nifty bank index was down 0.84%, while the IT sub-index fell 2.24%. IT giant Infosys Ltd fell 1.9%, while Housing Development Finance Corp HDFC ended down 1.9%. Infosys fell 1.9% this week after gaining over 6% in the past two weeks and HDFC was also down 1.9% after surging nearly 8% in the last two weeks. Bharti Airtel BRTI.NS rose 3.8% after the MSCI Global Standard indexes said on Thursday it would review the weight of the stock in February. Shares of Indian multiplex operator PVR Ltd rose as much as 3% after posting a smaller-than-expected December-quarter loss.