Mumbai: Indian shares fell on Wednesday, while the rupee hit a three-week low against the dollar, as tensions over North Korea’s latest nuclear test showed few signs of abating and continued to spook global investors. North Korea’s nuclear test on Sunday comes at a time when foreign investors were reducing their holdings in Indian shares, having sold a net $2 billion in August and $248.70 million so far in September, according to clearing and exchange data. They remain net buyers of nearly $7 billion so far this year.

Foreign investors, however, were net buyers of Indian debt last month, and have been modest net sellers so far this month.

“Global uncertainty around North Korea is definitely affecting the markets,” said Dhananjay Sinha, Head of Research, Economy and Strategy at Emkay Global Financial Services. “(Share) market valuations are also fairly stretched at the moment and these global cues will certainly influence the market given that global inflows are important. So, we are not insulated to all these global factors.”

The falls tracked a lower Wall Street on Tuesday as well as declines in Asia on Wednesday, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 0.48% while Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.14% lower.

■ 2.55pm: BSE Sensex trades lower by 111 points, or 0.35%, to 31,698, while the Nifty 50 falls 28 points, or 0.28%, to 9,925.

■ 2.15pm: IT stocks fall. BSE IT index declines by 0.56%, Nifty IT index falls by 0.67%.

■ 1:32pm: BSE Sensex traded lower by 94 points, or 0.30%, to 31,715, while the Nifty 50 dropped 23 points, or 0.23%, to 9,929. Kotak Bank, Reliance Industries (RIL) and Maruti Suzuki are among the major gainers.

■ 12:30pm: Pharma stocks fell. Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd fell 3.2%, Divi’s Laboratories Ltd 3.2%, Cadila Healthcare Ltd 2.7%, Lupin Ltd 1.9%, Wokhardt Ltd 1%.

■ 12:25pm: The S&P BSE fast moving consumer goods index lost 1.04% and the S&P BSE healthcare index dropped 0.93%, whereas the S&P BSE basic materials index and the S&P consumer durables index rose 0.57% and 0.47%, respectively.

■ 11.30am: Axis Bank, ITC, Lupin and Sun Pharma are major losers with losses to the tune of 1.14%, 2%, 2.09%, and 3.33%, respectively.

■10.30am: BSE Sensex trades lower by 187 points, or 0.59%, to 31,623, while the Nifty 50 falls 55 points, or 0.55%, to 9,897.

■ 10.00am: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) gained for sixth sessions and added 7% in this period. The stock was trading at Rs1,640 on BSE, up 0.5% from its previous close. So far this year it surged 47%.

■ 9.33am: BSE Sensex trades lower by 174 points, or 0.55%, to 31,636, while the Nifty 50 falls 51 points, or 0.51%, to 9,901.

■ 9.30am:Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd fell 2% to Rs903.70 after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said FPI investment in Bharat Financial shares reached trigger limit.

■ 9.25am: ITC Ltd fell 0.6% to Rs 280.70 after two brokerage cut its rating on the stock. Jefferies India and Macquarie has downgraded the stock to Hold and Neutral and reduced its target price to Rs 305 and Rs 304 respectively.

■ 9.20am: New Delhi Television (NDTV) Ltd surged 9% to Rs61.90. The stock gained for the fourth sessions and gained over 60% in this period.

■ 9.19am: The 10-year bond yield was at 6.481% compared to its previous close of 6.5%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

■ 9.18am: Just Dial Ltd rose 2.2% to Rs393.10 after HDFC Mutual Fund bought 3.2 million shares in the company on Tuesday, according to Block and bulk deal data on NSE.

■ 9.15am: Merck Ltd rose 5% to Rs1,260 after the company said its holding company is considering full or partial sale of its $1 billion consumer health business.

■ 9.10am: The rupee was trading at 64.21 a dollar, down 0.12% from its Tuesday’s close of 64.13.

■ 9.00am: Asian currencies were trading mixed after US Federal Reserve officials called for caution on further policy tightening. Malaysian ringgit was up 0.32%, Japanese yen 0.18% and China renminbi 0.09%. However, South Korean won was down 0.17%, Thai baht 0.04% and Taiwan dollar 0.04%.

Source:livemint.com