Indian shares inched lower on Monday, dragged by banking stocks, after a central bank report said bad loan ratios could soar in the future, while a continued rise in domestic cases of the novel coronavirus further dented hopes of an economic recovery.
The NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.1% to 11,180.65 by 0356 GMT and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex 0.08% to 38,077.45.
Banking stocks dropped after a report by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from Friday evening said bad loans could rise to as much as 15% of the total loans by March 2021. The Nifty banking index fell 1.3%
HDFC Bank shed 2.6%, IndusInd Bank fell 1.6% and ICICI Bank declined 1.5% in early trading.
The Nifty IT index and the Nifty Energy gained about 0.6% each.
India's most valuable stock Reliance Industries continued its rally and rose 2.2% to be the top gainer.
Total cases of COVID-19 in India touched 1.44 million by Monday morning, according to government data https://www.mohfw.gov.in. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday had said the country needed to be extra vigilant" as the threat from the virus persisted.
(Reporting by Derek Francis in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)
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