Markets flat in early trades

The markets opened on a flat note following the surprise rate hike by the RBI late on Friday.

The Sensex opened at 17,474, and touched a high of 17,504 in opening deals. The index is now down 10 points at 17,451.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its bid to tame inflation, after markets hours on Friday announced a 25 basis points hike in repo and reverse repo rates. The central bank is scheduled to meet on July 27 for the credit policy review.

Hindustan Unilever is the prominent loser, down over 1% at Rs 266.

Hindalco and TCS are the other major losers.

Cipla, HDFC and Infosys are up around 0.6% each at Rs 339, Rs 2,933 and Rs 2,744, respectively.

Mahindra & Mahindra and Reliance Infrastructure are the other notable gainers.