Sensex, Nifty Decline In Early Trade; IT And Financials Lead Losses

Indian shares opened lower on Tuesday, adding to losses in the previous session as geopolitical tensions persisted and robust U.S. consumer spending data for March added to concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

Overall losses, however, remained limited after data showed India's trade deficit narrowed to an 11-month low in March.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was down 383 points, or half a percent, at 73,015 while the broader NSE Nifty index dropped 104 points, or half a percent, to 22,168.

Financials and IT stocks traded weak, with Infosys, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, Shriram Finance and LTIMindTree falling 1-3 percent.

On the positive side, Tata Steel, ONGC and Eicher Motors all were up around 1 percent.

Jio Financial Services jumped more than 4 percent after it entered into a joint venture with U.S.-based BlackRock for wealth management and broking business in India.

Gokul Agro Resources advanced 1.6 percent. The company has signed a pact for oil palm development program in the Ananthapuramu district, Andhra Pradesh.

HDFC Bank dropped 0.6 percent ahead of its Q4 earnings results announcement.

Cipla edged down slightly after announcing an acquisition to increase its presence in cosmetics and personal care segments.

Tata Consultancy Services declined half a percent after it announced a new delivery center in Londrina, Paran Brazil.

Manappuram Finance added 0.7 percent on fund raising reports.

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