Equity market witnessed volatile trading in the morning session on Monday, with benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty shedding their marginal gains amid mixed cues from Asian markets.

Starting off the week on shaky note, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 196.61 points or 0.32 per cent to 60,486.09 points while the NSE Nifty fell 38.50 points or 0.22 per cent to 17,818 points.

As many as 18 stocks in the Sensex were in the negative territory, with most of the IT shares, including Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro slipping in the morning session.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said there is no clear direction in the market.

"There are both negative and positive signs. The rise in the dollar index to 103.7 and the hardening of bond yields are unfavourable for emerging market equity. Rising yields indicate that rates will remain higher for longer. Also, the spike in Brent crude to around USD 86 is a macro concern for India," he said.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) were net buyers on February 10, purchasing shares worth Rs 1,458.02 crore. The reversal in selling by FPIs is a positive for the domestic market.

Most of the Asian markets, including Japan and Hong Kong were in the red while China was in the positive territory.

On Friday, the US market closed on a mixed note whereas the European market ended with losses.

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