Indian shares ended about 0.5 percent lower on Wednesday after being range-bound for most of the session, weighed down by weak European markets and caution ahead of derivatives contracts expiry on Thursday. The broader NSE index closed 0.41 percent lower, while the benchmark BSE index ended 0.46 percent lower. Investors are now looking towards the second week of January for signs of a recovery in corporate balance sheets.
"Second week of January, since you have earnings season unfolding, you'll see some meaningful volumes happening as well," Gaurang Shah, vice president at Geojit BNP Paribas said. During midday trade, frontline stocks, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, India's second-largest drugmaker by sales, gained over 2 percent after the company relaunched its generic form of Nexium in the United States after changing the pill's colour.
Shares in Housing Development Finance Corp rose 0.42 percent after Standard Life received approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board to increase its stake in HDFC Life Insurance to 35 percent from 26 percent. United Spirits fell over 2 percent after the company sought shareholders' nod to report sick to the Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction.