Sensex slips ahead of F&O expiry; IT, banks drag

By Krishna V Kurup

REUTERS - Indian shares edged lower on Thursday, after rising more than 1 percent in the previous session, as caution set in ahead of the expiry of futures and options contracts later in the day.

Broader Asian stocks eased as worries over North Korea persisted, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 0.2 percent.

Domestically, traders are waiting for cues from the roll-over of monthly derivatives contracts later in the day.

"Ahead of the F&O expiry, markets are very much range-bound," said Vaishali Parekh, research analyst at Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt Ltd.

The broader NSE Nifty was down 0.24 percent at 9,860.20 as of 0601 GMT, dragged by IT and financial stocks.

The index may bounce back to the 9,900-9,920 level in the session, Parekh said.

The benchmark BSE Sensex slipped 0.3 percent at 31,559.69.

The NSE index was on track to post a 2.1 percent drop this month, while the BSE index was set for a 2.9 percent monthly decline.

Almost all sectors except energy were in the red. Information technology stocks such as Infosys Ltd and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd were among the top losers, falling 1 and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Shares in state-run power utility, NTPC Ltd, dropped as much as 2.5 percent, after the Indian government sold some of its stake in the company to help meet its fiscal deficit, raising $1.4 billion.

Energy shares such as Reliance Industries Ltd and Indian Oil Corp Ltd rose 1.2 and 1.9 percent, respectively.

(Reporting by Krishna V Kurup in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)