Sensex little changed; Tata Motors gains on JLR show

REUTERS - Indian shares were little changed on Monday, with Tata Motors leading gainers on key unit Jaguar Land Rover's quarterly performance, while broader sentiment was hit after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen indicated an interest rate hike remains on the cards for this year.

Asian shares tumbled after Yellen's highly awaited comments on Friday at a gathering of policy makers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. However, she did not give guidance on what the U.S. central bank needs to see before raising rates.

The caution about a potential U.S. rate hike comes as Indian shares have lost momentum after hitting their highest in more than a year on August 9 as investors worry that valuations have become too expensive.

"Valuation of stocks is overstretched as last quarter's results don't justify the high PE ratio of companies," said R.K. Gupta, managing director of Taurus Asset Management.

The broader NSE Nifty was down 0.05 percent at 8,568.20 as of 0704 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.04 percent lower at 27,770.92.

Shares of Tata Motors Ltd rose as much as 3.7 percent, making them the biggest gainers on the Nifty, as investors took comfort from the performance of JLR and were hopeful about its outlook.

Adani Enterprises Ltd gained as much as 2.8 percent after an Australian court dismissed a plea from activists to prevent mining at the Carmichael mine.

IT stocks were the biggest laggards on the Nifty, with HCL Technologies Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Wipro Ltd and Tech Mahindra Ltd the top percentage losers.

(Reporting by Arnab Paul in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)