The Sensex was marginally higher by 38 points at 18,727 points, while the Nifty was trading higher by 13 points at 9.20 am IST. Among the stocks that gained in early trade from the Nifty were Bajaj Auto, Ambuja Cements, ACC and Maruti Suzuki.

Index stocks that lost ground were Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors and ONGC.

Shares of State Bank of India which lost heavy ground on Friday following its results was trading by Rs 5 at Rs 2160. ONGC which also saw selling pressure late last week after reporting numbers was trading flat at Rs 258.

Banking stocks were trading flat to negative with ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank all gaining in early trade.

Shares of Indian Hotels was down in early trade after Orient Express rejected the company's takeover bid, saying the proposal "significantly undervalued the company.

FMCG majors ITC and Hindustan Unilever saw some selling pressure in early trade and were marginally in the negative.

Markets are expected to trade flat as the week is a truncated one owing to Diwali Holidays.

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