(RTTNews) - Indian shares fell in early trade Friday, tracking weak Asian cues as investors awaited the release of U.S. unemployment data later in the day for additional cues on Fed's next policy steps.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex dropped 320 points, or half a percent, to 62,963 in early trade, while the broader NSE Nifty index was down 99 points, or half a percent, to 18,714.
SBI Life and HDFC Life both fell around 1 percent after the finance ministry invited comments on proposed amendments to the Insurance Act, 1938, and Insurance Regulatory and Development Act (IRDA), 1999.
Yes Bank jumped 3.5 percent after it received conditional approval from RBI for a planned stake sale to global PE funds.
ONGC, Oil India and Reliance Industries were up between half a percent and 2 percent after the government reduced the windfall tax on crude oil and the export tax on diesel.
Vodafone Idea was little changed on reports it has approached SBI for a loan amounting to Rs. 15,000-16,000 crore.
PB Fintech rallied 2 percent on reports that the SoftBank Group is planning to offload a 5 percent stake in the online insurance aggregator Policybazaar through a block deal.
Maruti Suzuki India, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor all traded lower after unveiling their monthly sales figures.
