The Indian stock market is slightly sluggish Monday morning with investors treading cautiously amid a lack of positive triggers and on rising geopolitical tensions in West Asia.
Wall Street ended lower on Friday with investors reacting to a weaker-than-expected jobs reports. A subdued trend in Asian markets today amid geopolitical tensions in North Korea and the Middle East and caution ahead of some key economic data and earnings reports are also contributing to the slightly sluggish movements in the market.
Activity is stock specific with corporate news providing some direction.
The BSE benchmark Sensex, which advanced to 29,831.32 in opening trades, declined to 29,676.80 subsequently, is currently down marginally at 29,699.20. The Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange is down 2.80 points at 9195.50, coming off an early high of 9225.65.
In the forex market, the rupee opened at 64.30 against the U.S. dollar, down slightly from Friday's close of 64.28 a dollar.
Coal India is gaining 1.3%. Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Cipla and Tata Motors are up with modest gains.
HDFC, Asian Paints, Lupin, Wipro, GAIL India, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel, Mahindra & Mahindra and Hindustan Unilever are down 0.3% - 1%.
Shares of state-run oil marketing companies BPCL (2.5%), Indian Oil Corporation (2.5%) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (1%) are up with strong gains.
Bharti Infratel, Grasim Industries and Ambuja Cements, the other prominent gainers at present, are up 0.75% - 1.75%.
