Indian shares fell more than 1% on Friday, dragged by losses across the board, as global sentiment soured after the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted at an increasingly aggressive rate hike amid concerns about high inflation.
The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 1.01% at 17,216.25, as of 0444 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.97% to 57,353.26. Both indexes had added over 1% in the previous session as Reliance Industries rallied.
Broader Asian stocks also lost ground after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said overnight that a half-point rate hike will be "on the table" when the central bank meets in May, and it would be appropriate to "be moving a little more quickly."
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan saw its sharpest decline in six weeks and was down 1.1% in morning trade.
The Fed chief's views on rate hike and inflation consequently impacted equity markets, but this impact, too, is likely to be temporary, V.K. Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said in a note.
India's benchmark indexes are set to log a weekly loss of over 1%, hurt by worries around the Ukraine crisis, surging inflation and a rout in technology stocks after weak earnings from Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys.
On Friday, all major Nifty sub-indexes were trading lower. Nifty's Energy sub-index snapped five sessions of gains and was down 0.5%. Even with the day's losses, it was on track for a 2.5% weekly gain.
Reliance Industries snapped its three-day rally and was down 1.5%.
Adani Ports was the top gainer on the Nifty 550 index, adding over 3%, after saying it will buy marine services provider Ocean Sparkle for 15.30 billion rupees ($200.61 million).
HCL Technologies rose 3.3% after it posted a rise in March-quarter net profit.
