Indian shares fell, dragged lower by state-owned lenders such as State Bank of India amid reports that the central bank has raised provisioning requirements for loans submitted under the insolvency process.
The Reserve Bank of India has told banks to set aside at least 50 percent of the loan amount as likely losses for all cases referred to the insolvency process, the Economic Times reported citing two unidentified bank officials.
The broader NSE Nifty was down 0.4 percent at 9,535 at 06:47 GMT while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex declined 0.3 percent at 31,043. Markets were closed on Monday for a public holiday.
The Nifty PSU Bank index dropped 2.8 percent. Shares of state-owned lender SBI dropped 2.6 percent while Bank of Baroda slumped 3.6 percent.
Aviation stocks such as SpiceJet, Jet Airways and Interglobe Aviation declined for a second straight session as crude prices recovered following a slump last week. Shares of NMDC dropped as much as 3.4 percent after brokerage Citi downgraded the miner to 'Sell' from 'Neutral'.
Telecom equipment maker Tejas Networks saw a tepid listing at its issue price of Rs 257 on the exchanges. Among the gainers, Videocon Industries rose 5 percent on block deals.
Shares of Pioneer Distilleries hit an upper circuit limit of 5 percent after it received a subsidy worth Rs 118 crore from the Maharashtra government.
Market breadth was in the favour of losers, with about 3 stocks falling to every 1 stock that advanced.
