Indian shares erase gains on fears over oil prices, dollar; inflation data eyed

Ujjivan Financial Services

12/07/2021 11:40

BENGALURU, July 12 (Reuters) - Indian shares erased early
gains to close little changed on Monday as concerns over higher
oil prices and a strong dollar weighed on the market ahead of
monthly inflation data.
    The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index  .NSEI  closed up 0.02% at
15,692.60 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex  .BSESN  ended 0.03%
lower at 52,372.69.
    The Nifty IT  .NIFTYIT  index lost 0.45%, falling for a
second straight session, as software heavyweight Infosys
 INFY.NS  closed 1% lower before its quarterly earnings on
Wednesday. 
    "Market is waiting for one big reason to go upside ... it is
filled with fear of correction as monsoons have been delayed,
crude oil prices are at highest levels and the dollar is getting
stronger," said Rahul Sharma, market strategist and head of
research at Equity99 in Mumbai.    
    "Overvalued stocks are witnessing profit booking and the
same money is getting shifted to undervalued stocks," Sharma
added.
    Financial stocks received a boost from the Reserve Bank of
India's decision to allow reverse mergers of banks older than
five years with their holding companies.
    Equitas Holdings Ltd  EQHL.NS  surged 20% after it started
steps to merge with its unit Equitas Small Finance Bank
 EQUI.NS . Ujjivan Small Finance Bank  UJJI.NS  rose as much as
10.8% on its move to combine with holding company Ujjivan
Financial Services Ltd  UJVF.NS .
    The wider Nifty Bank index  .NSEBANK , which had earlier
risen up to 0.92%, shed some gains to end 0.36% higher.
    India's consumer price inflation data, due at 1200 GMT, is
likely to show an acceleration to a seven-month high in June,
staying above the central bank's comfort zone for a second
straight month, a Reuters poll showed.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2OI3EF
    Globally, markets were weaker and bond yields were holding
just above multi-week lows as a rise in new infections caused by
the Delta coronavirus variant soured investor sentiment.
 MKTS/GLOB 

 (Reporting by Shivani Singh and Chris Thomas in Bengaluru;
editing by Aditya Soni)
 ((ShivaniSingh1@thomsonreuters.com; +91 89 6969 2349))