Sensex Edges Lower, Nifty Holds 10,600; Bharti Airtel Rises 3%

Sensex and Nifty today edged lower, following weak global markets. The Sensex was down 27 points at 34,589 while Nifty slipped to 10,603. Bharti Airtel rose nearly 3 per cent while Reliance Industries gained nearly 1 per cent. Asian shares fell on Wednesday as a rise in US bond yields to 3 per cent and warnings from bellwether US companies of higher costs drove fears that corporate earnings growth may peak soon. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.7 per cent to its lowest in almost three weeks, with tech-heavy Taiwan shares hitting two-month lows on worries about slowing semi-conductor demand. Japan's Nikkei also dropped 0.7 per cent.

Wall Street shares skidded overnight, with the S&P 500 falling 1.34 percent, the most in two-and-a-half weeks.

Industrial heavyweight Caterpillar beat earnings estimates due to strong global demand but its shares tumbled 6.2 per cent after management said first-quarter earnings would be the "high water mark" for the year and warned of increasing steel prices.

Creeping gains in US Treasury yields are fuelling fears. The 10-year yield, a benchmark for global borrowing costs, has been driven steadily higher by a combination of concerns over inflation, growing debt supply, and rising Federal Reserve borrowing costs.

The 10-year U.S. Treasuries yield rose to as high as 3.003 per cent on Tuesday. A break of its January 2014 high of 3.041 per cent could turn investors even more bearish.

Oil prices slipped back from near 3-1/2-year highs as talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron eased concerns Washington may reinstate sanctions against Iran, although Trump refrained from committing to staying in a 2015 nuclear deal. (With Agency Inputs)