BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian shares ended lower on Friday on losses in banks and Reliance Industries, taking the shine off a week in which the government’s high-spending budget powered the blue-chip indexes to their first weekly gain in three.
The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.25% to 17,516.3 and the S&P BSE Sensex slipped 0.24% to 58,644.82, also weighed down by lingering worries around interest rates and inflation.
The indexes closed the week around 2.5% stronger after the government lifted spending to boost the pandemic-hit economy.
The Nifty PSU Bank index, which tracks state-owned lenders, slid 1.9% on Friday, with Bank of India dropping 3.3% despite reporting a jump in quarterly profit and better asset quality.
India’s largest lender by assets, State Bank of India, fell 1.8% in its worst performance since December.
Reliance Industries, India’s biggest company by market value, slid 0.9%.
Two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp slipped 2.2% after Thursday’s sharp gains.
The Nifty Realty index was among the worst performing sub-indexes, dropping 2.8%.
Godrej Properties slumped 9.7% after several brokerages raised doubts over the company’s proposed investment in real estate development and construction company D B Realty Ltd.
Meanwhile, Tata Steel settled 0.8% higher ahead of its quarterly results. The Nifty Metal index climbed 1.2%, lifted by gains in Hindalco and Hindustan Copper.
(Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)
