The key indices continued range bound trading in early afternoon trade. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 9.57 points, or 0.03%, at 35,612.57. The Nifty 50 index was down 4.60 points, or 0.04%, at 10,813.10.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.11%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.59%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned weak. On BSE, 824 shares rose and 1522 shares fell. A total of 123 shares were unchanged.
Cement shares declined. ACC (down 1.33%), Ambuja Cements (down 0.78%) and UltraTech Cement (down 0.69%), edged lower.
Grasim Industries was down 1.04%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.
Most telecom stocks declined. MTNL (down 1.98%), Reliance Communications (down 1.62%) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 0.81%), edged lower. Bharti Airtel (up 0.37%) and Idea Cellular (up 2.72%), edged higher.
Telecom tower infrastructure provider Bharti Infratel was down 0.84%.
Overseas, Asian shares fell as investors digested the escalation in trade tensions between the US and China after both countries announced tariffs last week. Markets in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Indonesia were closed on Monday for holidays.
Japan logged its first trade deficit in three months in May on a surge in imports of aircraft and aircraft engines from the United States, data from Japan's finance ministry showed Monday. Japan posted a trade deficit of 578.3 billion Yen in May.
Trump administration last week said it will impose a 25% tariff on a list of 818 items of Chinese goods worth around $34 billion beginning 6 July. Measures affecting an additional 284 products worth $16 billion will be subject to review before taking effect.
In response, China said a 25% tariff will be implemented on US goods, including soybeans and electric vehicles, worth $34 billion starting 6 July. Another list of US imports worth $16 billion will be subject to review before being applied.
US stocks ended lower on Friday, but well off the lows of the sessions as investors looked past signs of escalating Washington-Beijing trade tensions.
On the data front, the Empire State manufacturing survey rose 4.9 points in June to a reading of 25, the highest reading since October. Separately, manufacturing production declined 0.7% in May, while capacity utilization dropped to 77.9% from 78.1% in the previous month. Further, the University of Michigan's gauge of consumer sentiment rose to 99.3 in June.
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