Indian Shares Edge Lower In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - Indian shares traded lower in early trade on Monday due to lingering geopolitical tensions, rising crude oil prices and continued FII selling.

Brent crude prices traded near $110 a barrel as U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his threat to attack Iran's bridges and power plants, warning he would bring "Hell" to Iran if they do not open the vital waterway by 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday.

Trump will hold a news conference "with the Military" at the Oval Office at 1 p.m. later today after U.S. forces rescued an American airman in Iran last week.

The benchmark BSE Sensex dropped 360 points, or half a percent, to 72,961 while the broader NSE Nifty index was down 96 points, or 0.4 percent, at 22,616.

Among the prominent decliners, Maruti Suzuki India, Bharti Airtel, Indigo, Adani Ports, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Sun Pharma and Reliance Industries fell 1-2 percent. HDFC Bank fell about 1 percent after releasing its Q4 business update.

Emami declined 1.6 percent on news it would take complete ownership of Axiom Ayurveda Pvt Ltd.

Wipro rose more than 1 percent after announcing a long-term transformation deal with Olam Group.

RBL Bank rallied 2.4 percent. The RBI has approved Emirates NBD Bank's proposal to acquire up to a 74 percent in the bank.

Hindustan Zinc gained 1.1 percent as it reported 2 percent year-on-year growth in mined metal production during Q4.