By Arnab Paul
(Reuters) - Indian shares edged lower on Monday, in line with broader Asian markets, as political uncertainties in the U.S. and slow global economic growth dampened investor risk appetite.
U.S. President Donald Trump's budget director and chief of staff said the partial U.S. government shutdown could continue into January while sources also told Reuters that Trump privately discussed the possibility of firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, a move that would likely roil financial markets.
The Fed's decision on rate hikes last week sent global markets falling over concerns of global economic growth following disappointing economic data from China and Europe earlier this month.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.5 percent to its lowest in seven weeks.
Back home, shares continued trading in the red for a third straight session even after the government announced tax cuts on over 20 items in a bid to boost the chances of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in next year's general elections.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) council agreed to lower the tax on some goods including televisions, batteries and movie tickets.
Multiplex cinema theatres operator INOX Leisure Ltd rose as much as 4.12 percent while Amara Raja Batteries Ltd gained 1.3 percent.
"From the GST point of view of course it's positive but right now the markets are volatile," said Harendra Kumar, managing director, Elara Securities.
"Volatility due to various global factors but once the markets comes out of this, expect an upward momentum. We see Nifty hitting 12,300-12,400 in the next calendar year."
The broader NSE Nifty was down 0.14 percent at 10,738.65 as of 0538 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.05 percent lower at 35,723.66.
Among decliners, JSW Steel Ltd and Hero MotoCorp Ltd were the biggest percentage losers on the Nifty, falling 3.8 percent and 3.55 percent, respectively.
Financials were also down, with HDFC Bank Ltd, the biggest drag on the index, falling 1.3 percent.
Among gainers, IT stocks including Infosys Ltd and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd rose 1.1 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.
The Nifty IT index was up 0.5 percent, having shed 4.5 percent in the last four trading sessions.
(Reporting by Arnab Paul in BENGALURU; Editing by Sunil Nair)
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
