Benchmark indices were trading lower in early trade, despite a surge in the stock of Reliance Industries. The Sensex was trading lower by 120 points, while the Nifty was lower by 40 points in trade.

Shares in Reliance Industries surged 7 per cent, following a number of announcements by the company. Investors cheered the company's announcement to be debt free in the next 18 months or so. Apart from this aggressive plans for the telecom business and huge investments in the company by Aramco, gave a boost to the stock. Analysts see a further upside to the stock.

Shares in Tata Motors also saw a downtick in trade, after Jaguar landrover, posted a 5 per cent rise in sales in July. The stock of Tata Motors was lower by 0.30 per cent in trade.

Muthoot Finance, which delivered a good set of results, was also down. The gold loan company posted a 9 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 563 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2019.

Most pharma sector shares were also seeing good value buying at lower levels. Cipla and Sun Pharma were both up in early trade. Indian markets had rallied sharply on Thursday and Friday on hopes that the government was considering withdrawal of tax surcharge on the super rich.

Meanwhile, most Asian markets were lower in trade, following weak closings in the US. The Japanese Nikkei, was down more than 1 per cent, while the Hong Kong's Hang Sang was also down 1 per cent in trade.