Indian shares fall; Bharti Airtel drags on UIDAI probe

Indian stocks fell on Friday, dragged lower by Bharti Airtel after UIDAI has ordered a probe against the telecoms operator for violating Aadhaar Act.

india trader
A trader walks in front of an electronic board in Mumbai, India. Reuters

Indian stocks fell on Friday, dragged lower by Bharti Airtel after UIDAI has ordered a probe against the telecoms operator for violating Aadhaar Act.

Asian shares edged higher, tracking gains in Asian shares as U.S. stocks marked gains overnight after apparent progress on U.S. tax legislation.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.1 percent. For the week, it was 2.6 percent lower.

Chances of passage of a Senate tax bill rose with the endorsement of Senator John McCain, as that branch of Congress moved toward a decisive vote. The House approved its own tax bill on Nov. 16.

At 0620 GMT, the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.19 percent at 33,087 while the broader NSE Nifty shed 0.14 percent to 10,211.

India's GDP growth quickened to 6.3 percent in the September quarter, up from a three-year low of 5.7 percent in the June quarter, an indication that the Indian economy has shaken off the lingering effects of demonetisation last year and GST rollout on 1 July.

Among the top Sensex losers, Bharti Airtel fell 1.6 percent, Tata Steel dropped 1.5 percent, Coal India fell 1.2 percent while Cipla declined 0.8 percent.

The S&P BSE Metal Index fell 0.6 percent and was among the top sectoral decliners.

Bharti Airtel dropped after the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) ordered a probe against Airtel for violating Aadhaar Act and has also threatened to fine the telecom service provider.

But Maruti Suzuki India rose 1 percent after the automaker reported a 14.1 percent increase in its November sales to 1.55 lakh units from a year ago.

Biocon gained 3.2 percent after the company said the European Medicines Agency accepted Mylan's MAA review for its cancer treatment.

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

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