Key indices were sluggish in early trade Tuesday, as the ongoing political uncertainty continue to weigh on sentiment. On Monday, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh revived talk of the Third Front, which political experts say is an indirect indication of early elections.

The BSE Sensex was down 46 points at 18635, and the Nifty was down 10 points at 5623. L&T Finance Holdings share markets were up 2 percent, though it will be parent L&T which is merging its general insurance business with Future Generali. Other key gainers at this hour included Cummins India, Wockhardt and Coal India, up between 1-2 percent.

GLOBAL MARKETS ROUNDUP
Asian shares fell and the euro was capped on Tuesday as investors contemplated potential flow-on risks from the Cyprus bailout scheme.

The euro nursed heavy losses early in Asia on Tuesday, having suffered a steep drop across the board on fears that future bank rescues in the euro zone would come with the same stern conditions seen in Cyprus’ deal. Crude oil futures rose on Monday in choppy trading after a bailout deal for Cyprus improved the outlook for fuel demand in the euro zone.

U.S. Treasuries prices rose on safety buying after the head of the Eurogroup of finance ministers said that Cyprus’s bailout deal may be a template on how to resolve  high bank debt in other countries in the, raising concerns about potential bank runs.

FACTORS TO WATCH
* India to sell 120 billion rupees of treasury bills.
LOCAL MARKETS PREVIOUS CLOSE
* BSE index 18,681.42 (-0.29 pct)
* NSE index 5,633.85 (-0.31 pct)
* Rupee 54.175/185 per dollar (54.33/34)
* 10-year bond yield 7.95 pct (7.96 pct)
* 5-year OIS rate 7.24 pct (7.25 pct)
* 1-year OIS rate 7.51 pct (7.53 pct)
* Call money 7.70/7.80 pct close (7.40/7.50 pct)