By Bharath Rajeswaran
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian shares fell on Thursday, dragged by energy stocks after a recent rally, ahead of second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data and monthly derivatives series expiry.
The NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.18% to 20,060.10 points and the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.24% at 66,741.23, respectively, as of 10:21 a.m IST.
Energy stocks lost 0.5% on the day, after a recent rally on moderating crude oil prices.
The energy index gained about 9% in November, as of last close.
All the Adani group stocks shed between 0.6% and 5%. Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone were among the top Nifty 50 losers.
India’s GDP growth is forecast to have moderated to 6.8% in the September-quarter from 7.8% in the previous quarter, but the country still remained the fastest growing major economy, according to a Reuters poll of economists.
The data is due post market hours on Thursday.
Separately, analysts at Reliance Securities said they expect volatility to increase over the next two sessions ahead of state election results on Dec.
3.
The support levels for the Nifty 50 remains at 19,700 levels, they said.
Analysts also expect volatility ahead of the November monthly derivatives series expiry later on the Thursday.
The volatility index hit a six-month high of 12.85 on the day.
Meanwhile, Hero MotoCorp and Mahindra & Mahindra climbed 2.5% and 1%, respectively as auto stocks extended a record run on strong growth view for the sector.
Monthly auto sales data for November will be released on Friday.
Despite the fall in Thursday’s session, the Nifty 50 has jumped about 5% in November and is set to post its best month since October 2022, aided by foreign inflows.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala, Sohini Goswami and Sonia Cheema)
