Aug 24 (Reuters) - Indian shares were little changed in early trade on Monday, extending the cautious undertone seen over the last two weeks, ahead of details about threatened U.S. sanctions on Iran.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is due to hold a press conference at 1800 GMT on Monday, after threatening to impose "the toughest sanctions in history" on Iran.
Iran in turn vowed to shut down all oil exports from the Gulf "if the economic war continues."
India's Nifty 50 rose 0.14% to 24,285.6 and the Sensex added 0.19% to 77,691.65, as of 9:38 a.m. IST.
The indexes shed about 0.5% last week, as investors assessed the potential implications of the Middle East conflict on inflation and bond yields.
The nearly six-month-old war between the U.S. and Iran has led to a surge in energy prices globally, driving inflation fears. Brent crude futures hovered around $93 per barrel.
The Nifty is likely to move within a range of 24,200 to 24,600 points in the near-term, with a breakout above 24,600 unlikely as long as there are headwinds like elevated crude oil prices and escalating geopolitical tensions, said V.K. Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments.
Eight of the 16 major sectors advanced in early trade while the broader small-caps and mid-caps rose 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively.
Information technology companies, which get a bulk of their revenue from the U.S., rose 0.8%, after a 2.6% drop last week.
Investors will keep a close eye on the Federal Reserve chief's address at the Jackson Hole Symposium later this week for indications on future rate actions.
Among stocks, Vishal Mega Mart jumped 9% after re-appointing Gunender Kapur as managing director and CEO.
Index provider FTSE's semi-annual review of its key indexes, effective September 21, also led to modest gains in some stocks. Cupid, Pine Labs and Anthem Biosciences rose between 0.5% and 2%.
Reporting by Vivek Kumar M; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Mrigank Dhaniwala
Source: Reuters