Sensex in red, Reliance Industries down 1.57%

Mumbai: Indian equities traded in red during the morning trade session on Monday after opening slightly higher. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries was down 1.56 percent on the BSE.

Asian shares opened mixed as investors were cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting.

At 9.25 a.m. the Sensex was trading 112.01 points or 0.28 percent lower at 39,340.06. It opened at 39,514.36 slightly higher from its Friday’s close of 39,452.07.

The Nifty was down 40.15 points or 0.34 percent at 11,783.15.

Besides, investors continued to watch developments in the Middle East after a pair of oil tankers were attacked near the Strait of Hormuz on June 13. The incident escalates tensions in the region, heightening fears of a potential US-Iran military confrontation and disruption in oil supplies. Crude futures climbed 0.5 percent the very next day.

The Brent was trading at $62.20 per barrel, up by 0.3 percent.

Another point of concern for the markets said Deepak Jasani of HDFC Securities was the slowing of the Chinese economy. “Chinese data pointed to the worst slowdown in industrial growth in 17 years. May industrial output growth slowed to a more than 17-year low, the weakest since 2002,” Jasani said.

[source_without_link]IANS[/source_without_link]