Markets opened the day and the week lower, as global cues continued to remain weak, amidst worries over global trade tariff barriers.

The Sensex was trading with losses of 300 points, while the Nifty once again slipped below the 10,700 points mark and was down 100 points at 10,614 points at 1.20 pm.

Leading the set of gainers in trade were Bajaj Auto, Tata Steel and Sun Pharma. On the other hand the losers in trade were NTPC, Vedanta and Larsen and Toubro.

Tata Motors shares rallied smartly after its June numbers showed a robust growth. In fact, Bajaj Auto too gained ground, after its sales grew for the eleventh straight month in a row.

Another Tata group company, Tata Steel also gained ground after the country's second largest steel maker approved a joint venture with Germany's Thysenkrupp AG. Oil marketing PSUs saw good buying, after crude oil prices saw a sharp fall. Among the gainers were HPCL, BPCL and Indian Oil, all of which gained 1-2 per cent.

Meanwhile, Asian markets were weak, after worries over more trade barriers. The Hang Sang was closed for government holidays, but, other markets like the Shanghai Composite, the Japanese Nikkei lost heavy ground. European markets too were lower with cuts of near 1 per cent.

The rupee was down three paise at 68.44 to the dollar.

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