Indian equity benchmarks remain in a consolidation phase since early trade. But the BSE Sensex holds the 20,000 level, which is down 13.32 points to 20,017.45. Meanwhile, the Nifty slipped 10.40 points to 6072.75.

Japanese stocks fell while the dollar held steady against the yen on Tuesday as share market players awaited direction from U.S. and U.K. markets when they resume trade after holidays on Monday, following last week’s turbulence.

The yen gave up a bit of ground early in Asia on Tuesday but clung to most of its recent gains with wary investors keeping an eye on the Nikkei as further declines in Tokyo stocks would likely underpin the Japanese currency.  Brent oil crude futures edged lower on Monday, as last week’s weaker data lingered over a market thinned by public holidays in the United States and Britain.

U.S. Treasuries prices edged up on Friday as traders evaluated the likelihood of the U.S. Federal Reserve pulling back on bond purchases this year and whether the recent selloff was overdone.

    LOCAL MARKETS PREVIOUS CLOSE
* BSE index 20,030.77 (1.66 pct)
* NSE index 6,083.15 (1.66 pct)
* Rupee 55.5675/5775 per dollar (55.63/64 )
* 10-year bond yield 7.34 pct (7.34 pct)
* 5-year OIS rate 6.77 pct (6.76 pct)
* 1-year OIS rate 7.08 pct (7.09 pct)
* Call money 7.30/7.35 pct (7.30/7.35 pct)

     FACTORS TO WATCH
The Reserve Bank of India’s Governor Duvvuri Subbarao speaks at a financial inclusion event in Pune. [0500 GMT] Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will inaugurate an annual conference of Income Tax officials. [0430 GMT]

    MAJOR DEALS/ACQUISITIONS
Tata Steel has signed a jumbo 228 bln rupees ($4.1 bln) project finance loan that marks India’s largest financing on record for a greenfield project.

Indian directory search provider Just Dial has priced its 17.5 million-share IPO to give a total deal size of 9.2 bln rupees ($166 mln). ING Vysya Bank has mandated Axis Bank, Credit Suisse and JM Financial to manage its up to 20 bln rupees($360 mln) share issue to promoters and qualified institutional buyers.