BENGALURU, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Indian shares dropped up to 1.2% on Monday, dragged by losses across the board and heading for a fourth straight session of declines as the Russia-Ukraine standoff continued to dampen risk sentiment.
The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.85% at 17,131.65 by 0440 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.74% to 57,408.44.
Both indexes have clocked losses of more than 1% in February as simmering tensions over Ukraine and the possibility of monetary tightening by the U.S Federal Reserve weighed on investor sentiment.
If Monday's losses hold, both Nifty and Sensex will record their fourth day of declines in a row.
"Russia-Ukraine still remains the backdrop, it has dulled risk appetite and there aren't any cues to help domestic markets higher this morning," said Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
"There is a little bit of hesitance going into March, traders at the moment are discouraged from taking heavy bets, and with Fed's rate decision due in March, its the moment of truth for the markets and one has to wait and see how things will transpire."
Offering a measure of relief, however, U.S. President Joe Biden and Russia's Vladimir Putin agreed in principle to hold a summit on Ukraine. The news boosted Wall Street futures and helped wider Asian shares pare sharp early losses.
In India, 47 of the 50 stocks on the Nifty 50 index slipped. Coal India led losses with a 4% drop.
All major Nifty sub-indexes were trading in the red, with Nifty's realty and metal sectors slipping 2.6% and 1.8%, respectively.
Shares of InterGlobe Aviation fell as much as 3.8% after co-founder Rakesh Gangwal resigned from the board of the IndiGo airline operator and said he would cut his stake slowly over the next five years.
Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath
Source: Reuters