(Reuters) -Indian shares opened little changed on Tuesday as caution prevailed amid a deepening Middle East conflict, while investors await local quarterly earnings and a monetary policy decision by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The Nifty 50 index was up 0.01% at 24,797 points as of 9:24 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex added 0.05% to 81,080.54.
Both the benchmark indexes have logged losses in the last six consecutive sessions, their longest daily losing streak in a year, after escalating Middle East war fears sapped risk appetite and as foreign investors withdrew funds, focusing on China instead.
Foreign institutional investors (FII) were net sellers for a sixth session straight on Monday, offloading shares worth $6 billion over the period.
Other Asian markets opened lower, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index shedding 1.9%. Wall Street equities closed lower overnight.[MKTS/GLOB]
“Domestic markets have been experiencing significant profit-booking recently, alongside a large sell-off by foreign investors. This has unsettled investor sentiment, creating a more cautious and risk-averse atmosphere,” said Narendra Solanki, head of fundamental research of investment services at Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers.
Commentary by the RBI on Wednesday and the corporate earnings season starting later this week will be key triggers that will likely influence the trajectory of markets in the near term, analysts said.
Nine of the 13 major sectors declined on the day. The broader, more domestically focussed small- and mid-caps lost about 0.5% each.
Automaker Mahindra and Mahindra rose 1.6% after CLSA upgraded the stock to “outperform” from “hold”, citing gains from improved scale, superior product mix and better pricing power in sports utility vehicles (SUVs). The stock was the top Nifty 50 gainer by percentage.
Tata Motors lost 3.2% after its unit JLR’s September-quarter retail sales fell 3% year-on-year. It was the top Nifty 50 loser by percentage.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Mrigank Dhaniwala and Sonia Cheema)
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