Indian shares slide as finance, pharma sectors drag

BENGALURU, Nov 17 (Reuters) – Indian shares fell on Wednesday, dragged by banking and pharma stocks, with Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) and Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd (HDFC.NS) weighing on the Nifty 50 index.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) slipped 0.24% to 17,956.10 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) fell 0.26% to 60,165.7 by 0359 GMT.

The Nifty Bank Index (.NSEBANK) dropped 0.47%. Bandhan Bank (BANH.NS), RBL Bank (RATB.NS), and IDFC First Bank (IDFB.NS) — down between 0.9% and 1.4% — led the losses on the sub-index.

Pharma stocks, such IPCA Laboratories (IPCA.NS), Aurobindo Pharma (ARBN.NS), and Lupin Ltd (LUPN.NS) shed 1.78%, 1.51% and 1.45%, respectively. The Nifty Pharma Index (.NIPHARM) was down 0.53%.

SpiceJet (SPJT.NS) said on Wednesday U.S. planemaker Boeing (BA.N) had agreed to settle outstanding claims related to the grounding of its 737 MAX aircraft. Shares were down 0.6% in early trade. read more

In global trading, Wall Street equities were boosted by the dollar reaching a four-and-a-half-year high against the yen after data showed U.S. retail sales rose faster-than-expected in October. Asian shares slipped.

Reporting by Vishwadha Chander in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V

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