Metals, realty lead fall in Indian shares tracking global slide

BENGALURU, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Indian shares fell on Thursday, tracking Asian peers on caution after Fitchs downgrade of the United States credit rating, while analysts expect further consolidation in the markets.

The Nifty 50 (.NSEI) index fell 0.16% to 19,496.50, while the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) fell 0.19% to 65,658.78 at 10:20 a.m. IST.

Eleven of the 13 major sectoral indexes logged losses, with metals (.NIFTYMET) and realty (.NIFTYREAL) falling over 1% each.

Vedanta (VDAN.NS) lost as much as 9.02%, hitting a nearly-one-year low on reports of top shareholder Twin Star Holdings selling a 4.3% stake in the company.

The weakness spilled over to the broader markets as well for the second session in a row. Both domestically focused midcaps (.NIFMDCP100) and smallcaps (.NIFSMCP100) logged marginal losses.

Asian equities fell on Thursday after Fitch downgraded the United Statess credit rating to AA+ from AAA-, citing fiscal deterioration.

“Indian equities will (see) an effect for a day or so (from the Fitch downgrade), but the Nifty 50 will again go back to breach that 20,000 mark,” said Sanjiv Bhasin, director of IIFL Securities. “Whether we will sustain it or not is difficult to guess.”

Global brokerage Morgan Stanley, meanwhile, upgraded its view on Indian markets to “overweight” from “equal weight”, citing supportive foreign inflows, macro stability and a positive earnings outlook.

Pharma (.NIPHARM) jumped as much as 1.96% to a record high backed by companies such as Mankind Pharma (MNKI.NS), up 9.21% after posting a 66% profit jump, and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (SUN.NS), up 3% ahead of its results.

Titan Company (TITN.NS) fell 2.19% and was the top Nifty 50 loser on concerns over margins and high valuations after the jewellery maker reported a slide in June-quarter profit.