MUMBAI: Indian shares fell on Thursday, pulling back after a sharp rally in the previous session, as renewed Middle East tensions cooled hopes of the Iran-US ceasefire leading to lasting peace.
The Nifty 50 fell 0.93 percent to 23,775.1 and the Sensex shed 1.2 percent to 76,631.65.
Ten of the 16 major sectors declined, while mid-caps and small-caps rose 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
Financials fell 1.4 percent after the sub-index jumped 5.5 percent in the previous session. HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank were down 2.3 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively on the day.
The benchmark Nifty 50 and Sensex had jumped about 4 percent each in the previous session, driven largely by a temporary easing of fears, said Siddharth Vora, fund manager, head of quant investment strategies and executive director at PL Capital.
“But such relief rallies are likely to recur in a market increasingly hostage to headlines, with the Middle East conflict continuing to exert heavy pressure on sentiment,” Vora said.