Indian markets slip in morning trade amid selling by investors, funds

Indian equities opened Monday's trade on a weak note with major indices trading with about quarter of a percent of losses. Lack of strong global and domestic cues was attributed as the reasons behind such a lacklustre trade.

While the 30-share index Sensex was trading 0.27 percent lower at 26,417.61, the 50-share index Nifty was at 8,120.95, down 0.23 percent in the early morning trade. Overall market breadth was negative with 749 advances and 873 declines.

Most sectoral indices were trading in the red with auto, banking, capital goods, FMCG and IT stocks dragging the indices. However, metals and oil and gas stocks were providing some support to the market, capping the overall fall.

Asian Paints was the major loser in the morning trade with its shares falling 1.20 percent to trade at Rs 889.10. Eicher Motors, Sun Pharma, Adani Ports and Bharti Airtel also saw selling pressure in the early morning trade.

Meanwhile, Aurobindo Pharma gained the most on Monday with its shares trading 2.58 percent higher at Rs 708.50. GAIL, Tata Power, BPCL and Idea Cellular were the other major gainers on Monday.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading with marginal losses with Japan's Nikkei, China's Shanghai Composite and South Korea's Kospi in the red. Importantly, US stocks fell on Friday, driven by nearly 4 percent drop in Oracle shares. Analysts said that the fall in global indices weighed on investors' sentiments in the domestic market.

On the domestic front, the tepid performance of market was attributed to lack of active participation by investors. Last fortnight of December generally sees a thin trading volume with a dip in foreign institutional investor (FII) participation due to the Christmas holidays.

The Indian rupee was trading 0.01 percent lower at 67.75 against the dollar on Monday. Among commodities, crude oil prices in the international market were trading at $55.64 per barrel, up 43 cents from their previous close.