Markets open lower amid weak global cues; Sensex below 25,000

Auto stocks were the top losers after the proposed ban on diesel vehicles in Delhi

Benchmark share indices opened lower on Monday, amid weak global cues, as investors turned cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve stance on interest rate. Further, traders would keep a close watch on inflation data for November based on the wholesale price index (WPI) and the consumer price index (CPI) expected to be released later today.

At 9:40am, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 110 points at 24,935 and the Nifty50 was down    32 points at 7,578.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were down 0.1%-0.2% each.

"On Friday the US markets were under pressure on the back of falling oil prices. The oil prices were down as the International Energy Agency said that it sees the oil glut worsening in 2016 as demand slows and OPEC shows no signs of slowing production. Asian markets were also down. Further, for the NIFTY resistance is seen at 7637 above 7663, 7689 AND 7707 while support is seen at 7573 BELOW 7543, 7509," Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services said in a note.

The Indian rupee was trading lower at 66.97 compared to the previous close of 66.88 tracking weakness in domestic equities.

Meanwhile, industrial output rebounded to a five- year high in October. Industrial output grew by 9.8 per cent in October on the support of robust demand for manufactured products in the festival month compared to just 3.6 per cent in September.

In the Sensex pack, auto stocks were among the top losers after the proposed ban on diesel vehicles in Delhi. Tata Motors and M&M were down 1.3%-2.5% each. In the two-wheeler space, Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp were also down 0.4%-0.7% each.

However, Maruti was up nearly 1% on reports that the company would hike prices from January and plans to export 20,000-30,000 cars to Japan

TCS was down 1.8% after the management said that third quarter revenues could take a hit because of the Chennai floods.

Financials were also among the top losers with ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and HDFC down 0.5%-0.7% each.

Among the Sensex gainers, Infosys, Sun Pharma, HUL and L&T were up 0.3%-0.7% each.

Global Markets

Asian stocks were trading lower tracking a sharp slide in the Chinese yuan which slumped to new 4-1/2 year lows and weak global crude oil prices.

US stocks ended sharply lower on Friday with Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq down 1.8-2.2% each.