Sensex, Nifty open in red over mixed Asian cues

Key indices on Monday opened lower tracking mixed Asian cues. The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 229.59 points at 33,963.06 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 66.20 points to 10,414.40. Shares of reliance Industries and Infosys also pressurized the indices to trade in red. 

At 9:48 AM, Sensex was trading at 34,133.52, lowered by 59.13 points while Nifty was at 10,466.30. Among the early losers were Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, IOC, Hindalco, Vedanta and ICICI Bank while Hero Motocorp, Bajaj Auto, M&M, Cipla, ITC and Bajaj Finserv gained.

Shares of ITC and HDFC Bank supported the indices to recover from the initial losses. 

Share markets started firmer in Asia on Monday amid relief U.S.-led strikes on Syria looked like being a one-off event that avoided a direct confrontation with Russia, weighing on oil prices and safe-haven Treasuries.

EMini futures for the S&P 500 sprang 0.6 percent higher in early trade, while Japan's Nikkei added 0.3 percent.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1 percent.

The United States, France and Britain launched 105 missiles targeting what the Pentagon said were three chemical weapons facilities in Syria in retaliation for a suspected poison gas attack in Douma on April 7.

China and Japan have also resumed high-level economic talks after a hiatus of nearly eight years in a sign of improving ties in their often-frosty relationship.

The Japan-China High-Level Economic Dialogue was being held Monday in Tokyo for the first time since August 2010.

The Chinese side was led by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the first visit by a Chinese foreign minister for bilateral talks since 2009.

Meanwhile, the rupee fell 20 paise to 65.40 against the US dollar in early trade today on global trade war concerns, dip in India's exports in March and a sharp drop in domestic equities.

Geopolitical tensions over Syria and trade war concerns weighed on the domestic unit. But, a weak dollar against major global currencies capped some losses, forex dealers said.

India's exports dipped by 0.66 per cent to USD 29.11 billion in March, even as they increased by 9.78 per cent for the full 2017-18 fiscal.

The rupee closed higher by 6 paise at 65.20 in the previous session on Friday on the back of positive macroeconomic data and firm local equities.