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Indian shares down on Mumbai blasts

Mumbai - Indian shares fell on Thursday tracking losses in other major Asian markets after Moody's warned the United States may lose its top-notch credit rating in the coming weeks.

Market sentiment was also hurt by blasts in the financial capital late on Wednesday that killed at least 18 people.

Infosys, India's second-biggest software exporter that gets more than half of its revenue from the United States, led the losses in the main index.

At 07:45, the main 30-share BSE index was down 0.28% at 18 544.25, with 17 of its components declining. The index is down 9.6% on the year, making it one of worst performers globally.

The wider NSE index fell 0.19% to 5 575.05.

"The terror attacks is not the only reason, even otherwise the market is quite volatile," said DD Sharma, vice president at Anand Rathi.

Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said the coordinated bomb explosions in three crowded districts of Mumbai were not attacks on India's financial markets.

"These cannot be seen as attacks on India's commercial capital or on (our) markets," he told a news conference.

Infosys was down 1.6% at 2 740.00 rupees. The software services bellwether earlier this week reported quarterly earnings that narrowly missed market expectations and the company had warned that it faces a volatile gobal economy that may slow client spending.

Larger rival Tata Consultancy was little changed at 1 150.50 rupees ahead of its quarterly results due after market close on Thursday.

Sharma said the Mumbai blasts had only a small impact on the market. "The broader trend is positive," he said.

Financial rose on expectations that the interest rate tightening cycle had peaked. Banks' credit growth have been under pressure after the central bank raised rates 10 times over the past 15 months.

Shares in ICICI Bank were up 1.22%, while top lender State Bank of India gained 0.6%.

Traders would also be watching inflation data due at around 08:30. India's wholesale price index probably rose 9.70% in June from a year earlier, quickening from May, on rising food and fuel prices, a Reuters poll showed.

In the broader market, 803 gainers were ahead of 507 losers on volume of about 194 million shares on the NSE.

The MSCI's measure of Asian markets other than Japan was down 0.44 percent, while Japan's Nikkei edged 0.23% lower.
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