Indian shares drop 2 percent, dragged down by Reliance Industries, banks

Fri, May 9 07:22 PM

MUMBAI, India (AP) _ Indian shares dropped sharply Friday, pulled down by index heavyweight Reliance Industries Ltd. and banks.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark 30-stock Sensex fell 344 points, or 2.01 percent, to 16,737 points.

On the broader National Stock Exchange, the 50-company S&P Nifty index declined 99 points, or 2 percent, to 4,983 points. Among the biggest losers was petrochemical giant Reliance Industries Ltd.

, down 5.2 percent at 2,528 rupees, followed by power utility Reliance Energy Ltd.

, off 4.5 percent at 1,332 rupees.

Cement firm ACC Ltd. declined 4.

2 percent to 712 rupees. Banking shares took a beating with HDFC Bank Ltd.

closing 3.7 percent lower at 1,452 rupees, followed by State Bank of India down 3.

1 percent at 1,676 rupees and ICICI Bank Ltd. off 1.

9 percent at 874 rupees.

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