The markets have opened in the red with the Sensex down 74 points at 19,617 and the Nifty shed 27 points to start at 5,877. In the broader markets, the midcap index is down 0.2% while the smallcap is flat at 9,363.
On the BSE sectoral charts, IT index is the only one which opened in the positive. Capital Goods down 1% closely followed by Consumer Durables and Metal are the major losers in the early trades.
On the Asian front, the markets are trading mixed. Nikkei is up 0.1% along with Taiwan Weighted flat at 8,787.
Hong Kong stocks after rising in the early Monday morning, with energy shares advancing after a pipeline closure in Alaska which boosted crude futures has pared its initial gains. The index is flat at 23,669. Jakarta Composite down 2%, Seoul Composite, Shanghai Composite, KLSE Composite, Straits Times lost 0.2% - 0.3%.
Infosys up 1% is the only gainer on the Sensex in the opening trades.
HDFC, HDFC Bank down nearly 3% each are the top losers followed by Hindalco, L&T, Wipro, NTPC, Sterlite which shed 2% each.
The market breadth is very negative. 1083 stocks have declined while 373 have advanced.