Indian shares fell on Friday, dragged lower by lenders such as ICICI Bank, with sentiment in Asia subdued on the back of renewed North Korea concerns.
In Asia, stocks fell while safe havens suc as the Japanese yen and Swiss franc gained amidst possibility of North Korea conducting another hydrogen bomb test.
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said on Friday he believes the North could consider a nuclear test on an "unprecedented scale" in the Pacific Ocean, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan handed back earlier gains and was down 0.4 percent after falling 0.7 percent the previous day.
The S&P BSE Sensex fell 1.4 percent at 31,922 while the broader NSE Nifty lost 1.6 percent to 9,964. Both indexes extended falls into a fourth session and posted weekly losses for a second time this month.
Sentiment was also hurt on concerns that the government's plan for a stimulus to halt an economic slowdown may have a negative impact on the fiscal deficit, Reuters reported on Thursday citing two government sources.
Among the top Sensex losers: ICICI Bank fell 2.8 percent, Reliance Industries fell 2.8 percent, Hero MotoCorp dropped 2.6 percent while Tata Steel lost 4.7 percent.
Banking stocks were among the top laggards, with the S&P BSE Bankex index declining 1.9 percent. Yes Bank fell 4.3 percent, Federal Bank declined 4 percent, Punjab National Bank lost 2.9 percent, IndusInd Bank shed 1.2 percent while State Bank of India was down 2.6 percent.
Jindal Steel & Power plunged 8 percent amidst reports that Ravi Uppal will step down as the managing director and group chief executive officer of debt-laden steel maker by month-end.
Market breadth was in the favour of losers, with about 2 stocks declining to every 1 stock that advanced.
