Sensex little changed after RBI meeting minutes

By Vishal Sridhar

(Reuters) - Indian shares were nearly unchanged on Thursday, as cautious investors factored in another rate increase this year after the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy committee raised concerns over rising household inflationary expectations at its last meeting.

The rate-setting committee's members struck a balanced note on its rate stance going forward and cited rising inflation pressure due to high oil prices as the key reason for raising interest rates earlier this month, minutes of the June 6 meeting showed on Wednesday.

"The RBI minutes suggest probably one more hike this year, which, I believe is already discounted by the markets," said Krish Subramanyam, co-head and equity adviser at Altamount Capital.

The broader NSE Nifty was down 0.06 percent at10,765.85 as of 0557 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.01 percent lower at 35,542.34.

"The trade war tensions are hovering on investor minds and they are probably just waiting for it to wane to make their next moves," Subramanyam added, referring to the continued trade spat between the United States and China that pushed down markets earlier this week.

Pipe makers fell, with Jindal Saw Ltd hitting a more than 10-month low after the U.S. Commerce Department said it was imposing preliminary duties that could top 500 percent on welded pipe from countries including India.

India raised import duties on some agricultural and steel products from the United States in retaliation to Washington's new global tariffs on steel and aluminium.

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd and Power Grid Corp of India Ltd were also among the top losers, falling over 2 percent each.

The Nifty FMCG index was on track to post losses for a seventh straight session, with index heavyweight ITC Ltd dropping for a second straight session.

Shares of oil-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd, however, hit a record, helping the major indexes steady.

(Reporting by Vishal Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)