The Sensex was trading lower by 43 points at, while the Nifty was down 12 points at 9.30 am IST. points. ITC and TCS were both trading marginally lower ahead of their results to be declared later today.

Ambuja Cements gained 1% following the sharp rise in net profits, which saw fresh buying in the counter.

Indian Hotels dropped more than 3%, after the Tata Company along with an Italian fund offered to buy Orient-Express Hotels Ltd (OEHL).

Top Nifty gainers included Bhel, Ultratech Cement and Tata Power. Shares from the Nifty that lost ground were Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech, Mahindra and Mahindra and Kotak Mahindra.

Banking shares dropped in trade today with ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India and Canara Bank all losing ground.

Heavyweight Reliance Industries too was subdued with the stock losing 0.42% in trade.

Meanwhile, markets in Asia were all trading in the red, apart from the Hong Kong's Hang Sang which was the only index trading with gains.

Markets are expected to remain range bound and track global cues in the absence of any major domestic triggers.

GoodReturns.in