Indian shares fall on global worries

Mumbai: Indian shares fell 0.37 per cent on Monday, snapping a three-day winning streak as confidence remained vulnerable to fears of a global slowdown, but Reliance Power rose on plans to issue bonus shares after a poor debut.

Reliance Power said its board would consider issuing bonus shares to its shareholders excluding owners, after its shares had tumbled since listing last week. Reliance Power, which raised $3 billion in India's biggest IPO, ended up 7.5 per cent up at Rs413.65, after hitting a high of Rs429.60 in early deals. The shares were issued at Rs450, although retail investors only had to pay Rs430.

"The market is in a very cautious mood right now as the global negativity is still in the system," said K.K. Mital, a fund manager at New Delhi-based Escorts Asset Management.

Markets worldwide have buckled this year on concerns a US recession will drag down global growth and signs of more mortgage related problems in the financial sector.

Pre-budget buying

"Some bottom fishing is visible at these levels and a pre-budget buying should emerge in the coming one or two days," he said, referring to the government budget due on February 29.

The benchmark BSE 30-share index ended down 67.20 points at 18,048.05, with 18 components in the red. The index is nearly 15 per cent below a record 21,206.77 hit on January 10.

In the broader market 1,840 gainers defeated 876 losers on volume of 301 million shares.

Shares in Reliance Industries fell 1.5 per cent to Rs2,552, mostly on selling by foreign funds after the stock had rallied almost 14 per cent in four days.