REUTERS - Indian shares edged lower on Thursday, heading for a second session of declines in eight, as a stronger rupee hit exporters and investors booked profits after indexes rose to the highest since late October during the week.
Indian stock markets have surged around 20 percent since they hit a near two-year low on Feb. 29, on the back of hopes triggered by a recovery in earnings and improving economic data.
The country's gross domestic product expanded at a stronger-than-expected rate of 7.9 percent year-on-year in the March quarter, extending India's lead as the world's fastest growing large economy, data on Monday showed.
"We have come across over retracement in the past five-six days. The market is doing sideways consolidation. After two-three days of consolidation, the market will again bounce back," said Shrikant Chouhan, Senior VP, Technical Research at Kotak Securities.
"A lot of stocks are far way from their recent lows. It is not overbought," added Chouhan.
The broader NSE Nifty was down 0.14 percent at 8,168.35 as of 0810 GMT and the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.09 percent lower at 26,690.36, after both indexes on Wednesday hit their highest since late October.
Shares of drug makers Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd
Some major IT stocks were also among the prominent losers as Wipro Ltd
Two-wheeler manufacturer Bajaj Auto Ltd's
Shares of engineering and construction firm Punj Lloyd Ltd
Coal India Ltd's
(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)
