Sensex, Nifty pause after strong rally; Vodafone Idea shares slide 15%

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty opened flat on Thursday after hitting fresh record highs on Wednesday.

Indian shares fell on Thursday after two straight days of strong gains, as banking shares retreated, while troubled Indian telecom operator Vodafone Idea tumbled 15% after its non-executive chairman stepped down. By 9:18 am, the blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index was mostly unchanged at 16,270 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.07% to 54,408.12.