Indian shares fell sharply on Wednesday as the U.S. debt ceiling impasse continued and hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials bolstered the chance of a 25-bps rate hike at the June FOMC meeting.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex fell 371.83 points, or 0.60 percent, to 61,560.64, extending losses into a second consecutive session.
The broader NSE Nifty index dropped 104.75 points, or 0.57 percent, to 18,181.75.
Mid and small-cap stocks outperformed, with the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes ending down around 0.2 percent each.
Financials and IT stocks led losses, with HCL Technologies, TCS, SBI Life and Kotak Mahindra Bank falling 1-2 percent.
Among those that gained, Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, ITC and Hero MotoCorp all rose about 1 percent.
The Indian rupee traded at a six-week low as the risk of U.S. debt default and growth slowdown worries lent support to the dollar.
Oil held steady in European trade while gold hovered below $2,000 per ounce.
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