The benchmark indices slipped nearly one per cent in early trading, effectively erasing the gains posted on Thursday’s session. At 9:18 am, the BSE Sensex was at 49,630, lower by 400.25 points or 0.76 per cent and the NSE Nifty was at 14,763.55, down 110 points or 0.74 per cent.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was almost flat, with China closed for Tomb-Sweeping day and Australia on Easter Monday.
The S&P 500 surged on Thursday to its first-ever close above the 4,000 mark, lifted by gains in Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet, as well as optimism about a recovering U.S. economy. The Dow Jones rose 0.52 per cent, while the S&P 500 gained 1.18 per cent and Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.76 per cent.
Meanwhile, oil prices edged lower in early Asian trade on Monday after OPEC+ agreed last week to gradually ease some of its production cuts between May and July. Brent crude futures for June fell 16 cents or 0.2 per cent to $64.70 a barrel by 2351 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for May was at $61.32 a barrel, down 13 cents or 0.2 per cent.
On Thursday, the BSE Sensex surged 520.68 points or 1.05 per cent to 50,029.83 and Nifty rose 176.70 points or 1.20 per cent to 14,867.40. The markets were shut on Friday on account of the Good Friday holiday.