Indian shares end flat as HDFC Bank offsets rally in metal stocks

Indian shares ended flat on Wednesday as losses in heavyweight HDFC Bank offset gains in metal stocks, with investors remaining cautious over the shaky U.S.-Iran truce.

The benchmark Nifty 50 fell 0.03% to 23,907.15 and the BSE Sensex lost 0.19% to 75,867.8. The indexes have fallen 5% and 6.7% respectively since the Iran war broke out in February.

Iran said the U.S. had violated a ceasefire by striking targets near the contested Strait of Hormuz, potentially complicating efforts to bring the three-month-old war to a close.

India’s top private sector lender and heaviest weighted stock HDFC Bank lost 2.6% after report said it paid 450 million rupees ($4.7 million) to a state road development corporation to draw large deposits.

A spokesperson from the lender strongly rejected any assumption of wrongdoing or culpability.

Metal stocks jumped 1.7%, led by 4.2% and 4.1% rise in Hindalco and Nalco as aluminium prices hit an over four-year high on supply concerns.

Ten of the 16 major sectors logged gains. The broader small-caps and mid-caps gained 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively.

The MSCI’s index of Asia emerging market equities jumped 1.5% to a record high, led by an AI-driven rally in South Korea and Taiwan.

Taiwan overtook India to become the world’s fifth largest market by capitalisation on a surge in chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

“The bull rally in these markets is showing no signs of losing steam. So long as this trend continues, Indian market will remain on the back foot weighed down by FPI selling,” said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments.

Foreign investors have offloaded Indian shares worth $24.3 billion so far in 2026, surpassing record annual outflows seen last year. On the other hand, they bought shares of about $25 billion in Taiwan.

Indian markets will be closed on Thursday for a local holiday.