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BENGALURU — Indian shares fell more than 1% early on Friday, dragged by losses across the board, as global sentiment soured after the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted at an increasingly aggressive rate hike amid concerns about high inflation.
The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 1.01% at 17,217.85, as of 0355 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 1.02% to 57,328.38. Both the indexes had gained over 1% on Thursday after Reliance Industries hit a record high.
On Friday, 47 out of the 50 stocks on the Nifty 50 index were trading lower. Reliance snapped its three-day rally and fell 1.2%.
Among the few gainers, IT services provider HCL Technologies rose nearly 2% after it posted a rise in March-quarter net profit.
Broader Asian stocks also lost ground after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said overnight that a half-point rate hike will be “on the table” when the central bank meets in May, adding it would be appropriate to “be moving a little more quickly.”
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan saw its sharpest decline in six weeks and was down 1.1% in morning trade.
($1 = 76.3520 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)
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