Sensex, Nifty little changed; banking, auto stocks gain

REUTERS - Indian shares were little changed on Wednesday after three straight sessions of falls, led by a recovery in banking and auto stocks, although sentiment remained subdued due to a lack of domestic cues.

Investors are anxiously awaiting the monetary policy review on Oct. 4, the first to be held under RBI Governor Urjit Patel and the first to be decided by a six-member panel.

Most other Asian markets remained sluggish as well, on concerns over the European banking sector and as lower crude oil prices hurt investors' risk appetite.

The market does not have any cues, particularly on where to go about since all the major triggers are over, said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president of research at SMC Global Securities.

"Domestic markets are probably waiting for the monetary policy by the new governor and his stance on interest rates," said Jain.

The Nifty was up 0.14 percent at 8,718.30 by 0606 GMT, while the Sensex was 0.05 percent higher at 28,237.10.

The Nifty Bank Index and the Nifty Auto Index gained 0.38 percent and 0.79 percent, respectively, recovering from three sessions of declines.

Yes Bank Ltd and Tata Motors Ltd were among the biggest gainers on the Nifty, both up 1.40 percent.

Among the losers, Reliance Industries Ltd was down 1.76 percent after four straight sessions of gains.

The Nifty IT index fell as much as 0.54 percent, after gaining up to 0.65 percent on Tuesday. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and Tech Mahindra Ltd were among the top losers, both falling over 0.80 percent.

(Reporting by Darshana Sankararaman in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)