India Shares Open Weak
MUMBAI--Indian shares were slightly lower in early trading Monday, with investors cautious ahead of the central bank's key rate-setting meeting later in the day.</br></br>At 0504 GMT, the Bombay Stock Exchange's S&P BSE Sensex was 0.1% lower at 19169.88 points, while the National Stock Exchange's Nifty index was 0.2% lower at 5797.50.</br></br>Asian stocks were mostly higher ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting later this week, which will provide more clarity on the U.S. central bank's plans for its bonds buyback program.</br></br>The Reserve Bank of India will likely keep its key lending rate unchanged at 7.25% at a mid-quarter review of monetary policy later Monday, according to a majority of analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.</br></br>Twelve out of 16 analysts polled expect the RBI to keep rates unchanged, primarily due to a sharp depreciation in the local currency against the U.S. dollar over the last few weeks and its potential adverse impact on inflation.