 "Weakness in ITC, Infy drag markets down")
At 1020 hrs, the Sensex was down 47 points at 25,056 and the Nifty gave off 20 points to trade at 7,493.
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(Updated at 1020 hrs)
Markets started the week on a steady footing with the Sensex up 67 points at 25,173 and the Nifty gained 17 points to trade at 7,525 in opening trades. The ones leading the gains were blue-chip names like ONGC, RIL, L&T and ICICI Bank.
In the broader markets, both the mid and smallcap indices started 0.5% higher, outperforming the BSE benchmark index.
Sectors & Stocks
Consumer Durables index up 1.7% was the top sectoral gainer followed by Realty and Oil & Gas indices up 1% each.
Health Care, Metal, Power and Capital Goods indices up 0.5-0.7% were the other movers in early trade.
Meanwhile, defensives like IT and FMCG indices started in red, down 0.4% each.
ONGC, Hero MotoCorp, BHEL, Bharti Airtel and Tata Power up 1-2.4% were the top gainers among sensex-30.
All the major IT names like Infy, TCS and Wipro started the day in red, down upto1%.
Cipla, HUL, Bajaj Auto and ITC were some of the other weak names in opening trades.
In other stocks, AstraZeneca Pharma India has surged over 10% to Rs 1,224 after the company said it has got a shareholder approval for voluntary delisting of equity shares of the company from the stock exchange.
State Bank of Travancore gained nearly 4% to Rs 613 after the bank said its board has approved the rights issue of the equity shares of the bank for up to Rs 485 crore.
The market breadth was very positive on BSE. 1,056 stocks advanced while 407 stocks declined.
Global Markets
Asian stocks and the Australian dollar rose on Monday as upbeat news from China's factory sector and fresh highs on Wall Street fueled appetite for riskier assets, while crude oil held near nine-month highs as fighting in Iraq intensified.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.7% by mid-morning. Tokyo's Nikkei rose 0.4%, shaking off early weakness.
U.S. stocks rose on Friday, driving the Dow and the S&P 500 to close at record highs as the shares of 330 companies hit 52-week highs on the New York Stock Exchange.
The S&P 500 scored its third record closing high in a row while the Dow surpassed its previous record close on June 10. The blue-chip index hit an all-time intraday high at 16,978.02, coming close to the 17,000 mark.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.15%, to end at 16,947. The S&P 500 gained 0.17%, to 1,969. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.20%, to 4,368.