Key benchmark indices were trading with small losses in early trade. At 9:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 89.69 points or 0.25% at 35,719.26. The Nifty 50 index was down 29.45 points or 0.27% at 10,694.95.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative . On BSE, 478 shares rose and 763 shares fell. A total of 65 shares were unchanged.
Overseas, Asian shares edged higher on Monday, with trade talks between the US and China set to continue in Washington this week after high-level meetings in Beijing concluded on Friday.
US stock indices surged on Friday, 15 February 2019, buoyed by growing optimism that the US and China can strike a trade truce ahead of the March 1 deadline. US stock market will be closed on Monday in observance of the Presidents Day holiday.
In political news, tensions rose in Washington D.C. when President Donald Trump declared a national emergency citing a humanitarian crisis at the Southern Border. In economic news, the Empire State manufacturing index rose 4.9 points in February to 8.8 and industrial production fell 0.6% in January, the first decline in eight months.
Back home, Yes Bank (down 4.89%), HCL Technologies (down 1.03%), Hindustan Unilever (down 0.79%), Coal India (down 0.78%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.71%) and Hero Motocorp (down 0.46%), were the major Sensex losers.
ONGC (up 2.66%), NTPC (up 2.61%), Vedanta (up 1.39%), Power Grid Corporation of India (up 0.99%), Larsen & Toubro (up 0.86%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 0.72%), were the major Sensex gainers.
On the economic front, India's merchandise exports rose 3.7% to $26.36 billion in January 2019 over a year ago. Meanwhile, merchandise imports was flat at $41.09 billion. The trade deficit for January 2019 was at $14.73 billion as against the deficit of $15.67 billion in January 2018.
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