MUMBAI, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Indian shares turned negative in early trade on Thursday after starting higher, with leading telecom Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) easing 0.7 percent.
At 9:59 a.m. (0429 GMT), the 30-share BSE index .BSESN was down 0.25 percent at 16,870.52 points, with 16 components declining.
Bharti had risen 2.8 percent on Wednesday on news it plans to buy Bangladesh's Warid Telecom for a reported $900 million from Abu Dhabi Group, indicating a shift in focus to smaller targets after its planned $24 billion merger with South Africa's MTN (MTNJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research) failed.
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