India Shares Down As Tech, Autos Drag; Inflation Data Eyed

Indian shares edged lower in early trade on Friday, as technology and automobile stocks declined amid weakness in other Asian markets, while investors awaited domestic inflation data.

The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.09% at 17,643.20, as of 0350 GMT, and the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.08% to 59,287.62.

Nifty's IT index, which firmed up 1.79% on Thursday, declined 0.51%, while the auto index fell 0.24%.

Market participants are awaiting the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data due later in the day. A Reuters poll showed India's retail inflation likely eased in July due to a fall in food and fuel prices but stayed well above the Reserve Bank of India's upper tolerance limit of 6% for a seventh consecutive month.

Broader Asian equities tracked Wall Street's overnight weakness as investors were jittery over uncertainty around the pace of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve to tackle inflation despite some softness last month.