April 20 (Reuters) - India's equity benchmarks were little changed in early trade on Monday, as crude oil prices rose on concerns that the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran might not hold.
The United States said it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade and Iran vowed to retaliate. Brent crude climbed 5.6% to $95.4 a barrel. [O/R]
India imports a bulk of its crude and gas requirements and a prolonged spike in prices could worsen the growth and inflation outlook for the economy.
India's benchmark Nifty 50 was up 0.04 at 24,363.25, and the Sensex rose 0.13% to 78,595.03, as of 10:06 a.m. IST.
Ten of the 16 major sectors fell. The broader small-caps and mid-caps were down 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively.
"While there is a bit of an escalation in the Middle East, the market still seems to believe that the war may not continue for long," said Pankaj Pandey, head of retail research at ICICI Securities. "This is reflected in foreign flows as well."
Foreign investors bought Indian shares for a third straight session on Friday, as per provisional data. They have net bought shares worth about 46 billion rupees ($495.53 million) during the three days.
Heavyweight financials rose 0.3%, led by a 2% jump in ICICI Bank after better-than-expected quarterly results.
India's top weighted stock and largest private lender HDFC Bank dropped about 0.6% as a weaker-than-expected net interest margin disappointed investors.
Among other stocks, fast-fashion retailer Trent rose 2.5% after it said its board will consider issue of bonus shares on Wednesday.
($1 = 92.8300 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng, Harikrishnan Nair and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
By Vivek Kumar M
