The Sensex tracked Asian peers and opened lower ahead of the German Court's ruling and the Dutch elections, which could decide on a government that is anti-austerity. The Sensex was trading lower by 50 points, while the Nifty was trading lower by 20 points at 5342 points at 9.20 am IST.

There were very few gainers amongst the S&P CNX Nifty stocks in early trade including Dr Reddy's Laboratories, BPCL and ITC.

Among the stocks that lost maximum ground from index stocks included Hindalco, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel and Jaiprakash Associates. Shares of Sesa Goa fell more than 4% on reports that all of its 90 mines would stop work till a review is done.

Banking stocks continued to drag indices lower with ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and State Bank of India all trading lower. Heavyweight, Reliance Industries was down 0.57% at 9.20 am IST.

Markets are likely to trade in a range today ahead of the Federal Reserve decision on Quantitative Easing and a German Court ruling on the European Bailout Fund. Domestically, markets will this week track the IIP numbers and the inflation numbers due on Friday.

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