Indian shares may start higher on Monday on improved sentiment in other Asian markets, but an increase in retail fuel prices expected this week would limit the upside.

Shares in export-driven software services firms will be in focus after U.S. computer maker Dell posted strong results on Friday that signalled business and consumer spending were holding up.

"I think the markets will hold on for some time, but you may not see a major rally," said Ambareesh Baliga, vice president at Karvy Stock Broking.

The 30-share BSE index ended 0.6 percent up on Friday at 16,415.57. But it had fallen 1.4 percent on the week and is more than 19 percent down this year.

"IT should see some more upside. Many people are still low on IT weightage wise," Baliga said.

India's annual inflation came in at 8.1 percent in mid-May, its highest in more than 3- years, and any increase in state-set retail fuel prices would accelerate inflation.

Asian shares rose on Monday with Japan's Nikkei share average and the MSCI index of shares in the Asia-Pacific region outside Japan was trading 0.05 percent higher, while a pan-Asian index was up 0.5 percent.