Indian shares are subdued in early trading on Wednesday as investors await industrial production and consumer inflation data for direction. The rupee opened stronger at 58.20 against the dollar, up 20 paise from Tuesday's closing level, after the Reserve bank of India asked exporters to repatriate their proceeds from abroad within 12 months of receiving payments and hiked the limit for online repatriation of export proceeds from $3,000 to $10,000.
Other Asian markets are declining across the board, with Japanese shares bearing the brunt of the selling, on worries that the era of ultra-loose global monetary policy is on the wane.
The benchmark BSE Sensex is currently down 70 points or 0.37 percent at 19,072, while the broader Nifty index is down 19 points or 0.33 percent at 5,770. Among the prominent decliners, ITC, TCS, Axis Bank, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto are down 2-3 percent.
MMTC is tumbling over 4 percent on disinvestment reports. Fortis Healthcare is edging down marginally after it signed a pact to sell its entire stake in Vietnam-based hospital chain Fortis Hoan My Medical Corporation to Viva Holdings Vietnam for $80 million.
Titan Industries is plunging 8.4 percent, extending the previous session's selloff, after the company said all imports of gold for domestic consumption can be made only with 100 percent cash margin.
Mahindra Satyam is climbing 2.5 percent after the Andhra Pradesh High Court gave its nod for the merger of the company with Tech Mahindra. Shares of Tech Mahindra are up 2 percent.
Jindal Steel and Power is moving up 0.7 percent as the company said it was committed to fully cooperating with the CBI after the latter registered a first information report against the company in the coal scam case.
Hanung Toys & Textiles is gaining 2 percent ahead of a board meet today to consider stock split. Agro Tech Foods is edging up 0.2 percent after the company decided not to initiate further steps with respect to a share buyback.
IL&FS Engineering is up 0.6 percent on winning a Rs 266.50 crore construction contract from the Rapid Metro Rail Project in Haryana. ONGC is adding half a percent, a day after withdrawing its earlier statement on a deal with Videocon Industries.
Indian shares fell sharply on Tuesday on worries that a weaker rupee would undermine the government's fiscal and economic measures that helped spark a surge in FII inflows in recent months. The benchmark BSE Sensex fell by 298 points or 1.53 percent to 19,143, while the broader Nifty index ended at 5,789, down 89 points or 1.52 percent from its previous close.
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