Indian Shares Set To Open On Sluggish Note

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are seen opening a tad lower on Tuesday, tracking weak cues from other Asian markets.

Trading is likely to remain range-bound and choppy due to foreign fund selling, ongoing U.S.-Iran tensions and uncertainty over the Federal Reserve's rate path.

Iran conducted naval drills near a critical regional transit chokepoint prior to talks with the U.S. resuming later today.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty jumped around 0.8 percent each on Monday despite lackluster cues from global markets.

The rupee fell by 8 paise to close at 90.74 against the greenback, weighed down by a strong American currency and foreign fund outflows.

Foreign investors net sold shares worth Rs 972 crore on Monday while domestic institutional investors net bought shares to the extent of Rs 1,667 crore, according to provisional exchange data.

Asian stocks treaded cautiously in early trade, with mainland China, Hong Kong and South Korean markets closed for Lunar New Year holidays.

Gold traded lower at $4,974 an ounce while the dollar held firm ahead of ADP private payrolls numbers due later in the day and the release of minutes from the Fed's January meeting scheduled for Wednesday.

Oil prices were marginally lower before a second round of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.

"I'll be involved in those talks, indirectly. And they'll be very important," U.S. President Donald Trump said when asked about the prospects for a deal.

Overnight, U.S. markets were closed for Presidents' Day. In Europe, regional markets ended mostly higher on Monday, with geopolitics and defense returning to the spotlight as investors focused on the annual Munich Security Conference.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up by 0.1 percent. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.3 percent and France's CAC 40 finished marginally higher while the German DAX dropped half a percent.