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.
At 0550 GMT, the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.89 percent at 32,083 while the broader NSE Nifty lost 1.1 percent to 10,006.
Among the top Sensex losers: ICICI Bank fell 2.2 percent, Coal India fell 2 percent, Hero MotoCorp dropped 1.9 percent while Tata Steel lost 1.8 percent.
Banking stocks were among the top laggards, with the S&P BSE Bankex index declining 1.5 percent. Yes Bank fell 4 percent, Federal Bank declined 2.5 percent, Punjab National Bank lost 1.9 percent, IndusInd Bank shed 1.7 percent while State Bank of India was down 1.6 percent.
Jindal Steel & Power plunged 4 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.
Gainers included pharma stocks. Dr Reddy's Laboratories rose 1.5 percent, Sun Pharma gained 1.1 percent, Lupin and Cipla added 1 percent each while Ajanta Pharma advanced 3.2 percent.
KNR Constructions jumped 5 percent after the company said its joint venture won order worth Rs 884.47 crore from the government of Telangana.
Market breadth was in the favour of losers, with about 2 stocks declining to every 1 stock that advanced.
