The Sensex had opened in the negative, down 44 points at 19,936 and the Nifty lost 14 points to open at 5,965.In the broader markets, the smallcap and the midcap indices had opened flat at 9,324 and 7,608 respectively.
On the BSE sectoral index, Health Care up 0.3% was the top gainer followed by FMCG, Power and Capital Goods. However, Metal index down 0.5% was the top loser. IT, Auto and Bankex too opened in the red.
ITC up 0.2%, Hindustan Unilever and Tata Power gained 0.1% each were the only gainers in the opening trades.
ICICI Bank and Sterlite down nearly 1% each were the top losers on the Sensex followed by Hero Honda, TCS, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki and Infosys lost 0.5% - 0.6%
The market breadth was negative. 656 stocks had advanced while 530 had declined.
