Shares in PSU oil marketing companies BPCL and HPCL rose over 1% Sensex and Nifty edged lower today amid weak Asian markets.
The Sensex was down nearly 50 points at 34,368 while Nifty was off 5 points at 10,559.
Asian stocks dipped on Monday as investors braced for a bevy of earnings from the world's largest corporations, while keeping a wary eye on US bond yields as they approach peaks that have triggered market spasms in the past.Global markets, crude oil prices and the ongoing quarterly results season are expected to guide the domestic markets this week, say analysts.
"Global tailwinds would keep the markets range-bound,, especially the crude oil prices," said Devendra Nevgi, Founder and Principal Partner, Delta Global Partners.
Global oil prices were today slightly lower but not far from their highest since late 2014.
The market had wobbled on Friday when Trump tweeted criticism of OPEC's role in pushing up global prices, but quickly steadied.Brent crude oil futures were off 9 cents at $73.97 per barrel, while U.S.
crude eased 19 cents to $68.21.Companies like Bharti Infratel, Reliance Infrastructure, Bharti Airtel, Jindal Stainless, UltraTech Cement, Wipro, Axis Bank, Biocon, Rallis India, Yes Bank and Maruti Suzuki India are expected to announce their fourth quarter (Q4) earning results this week."Stock-specific action will continue to impact sentiment," said DK Aggarwal, chairman and managing director of SMC Investments Advisors.
"Nifty is expected that the Nifty will move in the range of 10,400-10,650 points level.On the higher side, Nifty faces resistance at 10,632, said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research for HDFC Securities.
Nifty has support at 10,400, he added.Last week, forecast of normal monsoon rains, along with healthy earnings in the IT sector, had lifted the Indian equity markets.(With agency inputs)