Asian share markets eased on Monday, with sentiment hurt by a patchy global growth outlook and weak data from Europe, but losses were limited as robust U.S. economic figures overshadowed worries about automatic spending cuts hurting the U.S. economy.

The euro hovered near a 2-1/2 month low on Monday while the dollar stayed close to a six-month high versus a basket of currencies as signs of improvement in the U.S. economy stood in stark contrast to a series of weak euro zone data.  Brent crude prices fell to a six-week low below $110 per barrel on Friday, erasing all gains so far in 2013 as political gridlock in Washington was set to trigger automatic U.S.

U.S. Treasuries prices rose on Friday as Washington looked set to implement spending cuts that are likely to weigh on economic growth and as European data pointed to a worsening economy in the region.

    LOCAL MARKETS PREVIOUS CLOSE
    * BSE index 18,918.52 (+0.30 pct)
    * NSE index 5,719.70 (+0.47 pct)
    * Rupee 54.90/91 per dollar (54.36/37)
    * 10-year bond yield 7.91 pct (7.87 pct)
    * 5-year OIS rate 7.22 pct (7.22 pct)
    * 1-year OIS rate 7.61 pct (7.62 pct)
    * Call money 7.50/7.55 pct (7.75/7.85 pct)

India government has provided 20 billion rupees ($364.3 million) as premium towards interest payments for bond buybacks in 2013/14 fiscal year starting April and the buyback will be cash and fiscal deficit neutral, a government statement said on Friday.

Staking his credibility on meeting a deficit-cutting target, Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram is likely to be forced to scale back spending in the upcoming fiscal year after delivering a federal budget that makes aggressive revenue
assumptions.

Indian real estate developer Unitech wants to add allegations linked to the manipulation of Libor to an existing dispute with Deutsche Bank, in a move that could set a precedent for cases against other banks.

India’s finance minister P. Chidambaram appealed to people not to buy so much gold as a way of reducing hefty imports, speaking on television a day after his 2013/14 budget surprised traders by keeping gold import duty unchanged at 6 percent.

India is not likely to roll out a planned programme to subsidise food for tens of millions of people before the middle of the 2013/14 fiscal year that ends next March, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told CNBC TV18 news channel on Friday.