Indian shares were subdued on Friday amid declines in broader Asia triggered by a worsening global growth outlook, while Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd sank to a three-week low.
ING Group is looking to sell a 1.21 per cent stake in the private-sector lender for over 28 billion rupees ($393.43 million) via a block deal, BloombergQuint reported, citing bankers involved in the deal.
Kotak Mahindra Bank shares posted their worst intraday fall since Dec. 10, after reports of a stake sale by ING Group, giving up nearly 5.0 per cent, reports Reuters.
Shares in broader Asia slipped on Friday as a deteriorating global economic outlook outweighed further signs of progress in trade talks between China and the United States.
Market participants shrugged off the dovish comments from the Indian central bank.
The broader NSE index was flat with a negative bias at 10,785.40 as of 0620 GMT, while the benchmark BSE index was down 0.1 per cent at 35,863.45.
The two-day rally was just a pull-back and now the downtrend is back. It is more of a stock-specific movement on Friday as there are no fixed triggers now, said A.K. Prabhakar, head of research, IDBI Capital in Mumbai.
Financials accounted for half the losses on the NSE index due to a plunge in Kotak Mahindra shares, while energy shares also lost some momentum.
Reliance Industries Ltd was among the top laggards on the index, declining as much as 1.5 per cent.
Bucking the broader trend, shares of Anil Ambani-owned Reliance group companies rose, with Reliance Communications Ltd surging as much as 20.5 per cent.
Anil Ambani is planning to use a payment from his elder brother’s company and the sale of real estate assets to pay what he owes to Sweden’s Ericsson following a court ruling this week, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.