Indian shares pause after recent rally; Asia sluggish

India shares were little changed on Monday as investors took a pause after indexes hit record highs last week.

sensex
A man looks at a screen across a road displaying the Sensex on the facade of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India. REUTERS

India shares were little changed on Monday as investors took a pause after indexes hit record highs last week.

Asian stocks slipped after China's central bank chief warned again about excessive leverage and U.S. President Donald Trump ramped up his tough rhetoric against North Korea.

The losses in Asian shares came despite gains in Wall Street on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.1 percent, the S&P 500 gaining 0.31 percent and the Nasdaq adding 0.74 percent.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.7 percent to 552.8 from Friday's top of 557.9 which was the highest since November 2007.

At 0540 GMT, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.07 percent at 33,709 while the broader NSE Nifty lost 0.03 percent to 10,449.

Among the top Sensex gainers, Mahindra & Mahindra advanced 3 percent, ONGC gained 2.4 percent, Tata Motors rose 2 percent, Maruti Suzuki was up 1.3 percent while Adani Ports added 1.2 percent.

Laggards included Bharati Airtel down 1.3 percent, Sun Pharma lost 1.2 percent, Reliance Industries fell 1 percent while Kotak Mahindra Bank shed 1.1 percent.

Kitex Garments hits 20 percent upper circuit after the company reported better-than-expected earnings.

Titan Co rose 20 percent after the jewellery maker posted upbeat September-quarter results.

Market breadth was in the favour of gainers, with about 2 stocks advancing to every 1 stock that declined.

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