Indian Shares End Lower As Nvidia Euphoria Fades

(RTTNews) - Indian shares ended lower on Friday, tracking weak cues from global markets as a brief Nvidia-led rally faded and mixed U.S. jobs data left markets uncertain whether the Federal Reserve will cut rates in December.

A weakening rupee, which hit a fresh record low of 89.37 against the dollar, pressured by uncertainty around a potential U.S. trade deal also kept investors on edge.

Negotiations between New Delhi and Washington have dragged on even as other Asian countries like Japan and South Korea have struck deals to bring down tariffs. Indian officials have publicly maintained that India will not rush to sign a deal.

The benchmark BSE Sensex dropped 400.76 points, or 0.47 percent, to 85,231.92 while the broader NSE Nifty index fell 124 points, or 0.47 percent, to 26,068.15.

On Thursday, both indexes inched closer towards their peak levels hit in September last year, driven by recovering foreign fund inflows and Nvidia's blowout earnings. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes both tumbled by 1.30 percent.

The market breadth was weak on the BSE, with 2,897 shares falling while 1,276 shares rose and 165 shares closed unchanged.

Tata Steel led losses to close 2.6 percent lower while SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Eternal, BEL, Bajaj FinServ, Bajaj Finance and HCL Technologies fell 1-2 percent.