Indian shares began cautiously on Thursday, tracking tepid Asian cues, as markets await more news on US-China trade talks and ahead of the third-quarter earnings of Tata Consultancy Services later in the day.

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At 9:50AM, the broader 50-share Nifty slipped nearly 9 points to trade at 10,846.50 in early trade. The BSE Sensex also edged lower by almost 41 points, or 0.11 percent, at 36,172.

The Nifty MidCap was mildly higher, up by 0.11 percent in initial trade and surged 0.45 percent to outperform frontline indexes. The BSE MidCap also traded higher by 0.29 percent.

Sectoral indexes were mixed with Nifty Realty leading 28 advancing indices. BSE Auto, Nifty IT and BSE FMCG were other major sectoral gainers. BSE Telecom dipped 0.80 percent, the weakest among 15 declining sectors, which also included Nifty Pharma, BSE Bankex, BSE Oil & Gas and Nifty Energy.

Among index gainers, Tata Motors, Yes Bank, ONGC, Eicher Motors, Adani Ports, NTPC and Bajaj Finance, surged between 0.61 percent and 1.12 percent.

Bharti Infratel, HPCL, BPCL, InudsInd Bank, IOC, Axis Bank, Asian Paints, HDFC and HCL Technologies, slipped between 0.60 percent and 2.45 percent.

Software major Tata Consultancy Services gained 0.5 percent ahead of its quarterly results. Analysts' expect constant currency growth to weaken on account of seasonality.

Meanwhile, the rupee opened nearly unchanged

at 70.53 against the US dollar. The home currency had settled at 70.46 against the greenback on Wednesday.

Asian markets traded subdued awaiting more clarity on the outcome of the three-day US-China trade talks. Japan's Nikkei was down by 1.15 percent, while South Korea's Kospi slightly up by 0.15 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was also marginally up by 0.18 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index was higher by 0.23 percent.

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