India shares extend losses; Bharti Airtel plunges 4%

India shares extended losses on Wednesday, a day after the indexes posted their biggest single-day percentage six weeks, dragged lower by Bharti Airtel and Tata Motors.

sensex
A man looks at a screen across a road displaying the Sensex on the facade of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India. REUTERS

India shares extended losses on Wednesday, a day after the indexes posted their biggest single-day percentage six weeks, dragged lower by Bharti Airtel and Tata Motors.

Asian shares paused at decade peaks amid concerns Republican plans for major U.S. tax cuts were running into headwinds even before the Senate releases its own version of the proposals, Reuters reported.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.05 percent having hit its highest since November 2007 on Tuesday.

The S&P BSE Sensex lost 0.46 percent at 33,218 while the broader NSE Nifty declined 0.45 percent to 10,303.

Among the top Sensex losers, Bharati Airtel was down 4 percent, State Bank of India lost 2.3 percent, Reliance Industries fell 2 percent while Tata Motors shed 3 percent.

Indian Overseas Bank fell 2 percent after the lender reported loss for the ninth consecutive quarter.

Finolex Cables lost 1 percent after the company reported a 5 percent drop in net profit in September quarter.

Gainers included Ujjivan Financial Services, which rose 2.2 percent after a block deal.

Cipla advanced 2 percent after the drugmaker reported a 17.7 percent year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit in the September quarter.

Market breadth was in the favour of gainers, with about 2 stocks advancing to every 1 stock that declined.

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