REUTERS - Indian shares swung between gains and losses on Monday, as investors continued to digest the fallout of Britain's decision to leave the European Union and as cement makers and agriculture-related firms rose on forecast of an extended monsoon season.
The chief of the country's weather office told Reuters on Friday that monsoon rains were likely to end later than usual this year, with plentiful showers towards the latter stages of the season, helping farmers recover from two straight droughts.
Analysts warned the Brexit vote would still weigh on domestic markets, even though some sectors were expected to benefit. Shares of oil marketing companies, for example, rallied on Monday after crude prices slumped.
Brexit still remains a concern across the globe, said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president-research at SMC Global Securities.
"It (Brexit) is an event which you can say is low probability, high impact. All the market participants have never expected this to happen. So, this is a kind of breather which markets are taking before taking their new direction after the event (Brexit) has happened."
The Nifty was up 0.16 percent at 8,101.90 as of 0909 GMT, after falling as much as 4.15 percent in the previous session, its biggest single-day percentage fall since Feb. 11.
The Sensex was down 0.12 percent at 26,366.52.
Shares of software services companies led declines, given their hefty exposure to Europe. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd dropped as much as 3.55 percent, while Infosys Ltd and HCL Technologies ltd fell about 2.80 percent each.
Meanwhile, shares of consumer giants Hindustan Unilever Ltd and ITC Ltd gained 1.72 and 2.06 percent, respectively. Monsanto India Ltd jumped 8.21 percent.
Cement makers were also among the top gainers, with UltraTech Cement Ltd up 2.93 and ACC Ltd 3.49 percent higher.
Oil marketing companies Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Indian Oil Corp gained between 2.20 and 5.21 percent, supported by continued declines in global crude prices.
(Reporting by Darshana Sankararaman in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
