Weakness across Asian markets following the decline in US indices on Friday was expected to lead to further losses on the Indian indices today, considering the weak sentiment following Friday's tumble. But the markets surprised and opened with considerable gains.

After the initial rally, the indices saw a sharp sell off and slipped into the red. They recovered soon after and retested the early levels before slipping again.

The Sensex opened at 11620 and touched a low of 11535. The index is trading lower by 24 points at 11565 at 11.10 AM.

The Nifty opened at 3455 and saw a low of 3431 in early trades. The index is trading lower by 14 points at 3441.

Cement stocks are firm in early trades, continuing their uptrend from the previous week. ACC is the biggest gainer from the sector and among index stocks, trading more than 3.5 per cent higher.

Gujarat Ambuja has added over 3 per cent while Grasim has gained 2 per cent.

Steel stocks are also firm in early trades. SAIL has added over 1.5 per cent while Tata Steel is trading nearly a per cent higher.

Large technology stocks have gained ahead of the results announcement, set to start later this week. Infosys and TCS have added over a per cent each.

However, Wipro has lost over 1.5 per cent.

Cipla, Jet Airways and Tata Chemicals are among the other Nifty gainers

Banking stocks are weak in morning trades as the markets wait for the annual policy from RBI. SBI has lost nearly 2 per cent on concerns that the settlement with employee unions would impact the bottom line. The bank had agreed to significantly raise pension benefits to retired employees.

PNB has also lost 2 per cent while OBC and ICICI Bank have given up nearly 1.5 per cent each.

MTNL is the biggest loser among index stocks, trading nearly 2.5 per cent lower. Among other telecom stocks, VSNL has declined nearly 2 per cent while Bharti is also trading lower.

Sun Pharma, Zee Tele and Maruti are among the other losers.

Mid-caps are faring better than large stocks and the mid-cap index is still trading with modest gains even as the frontline indices have slipped into the red. Market breadth remains positive, though it has slipped from early trades.

Mid-cap cement stocks are trading higher, following the trend in large cement stocks. Prism Cement, Mysore Cement and India Cements are among the major gainers.

Sugar manufacturer Uttam Sugar got listed on the exchanges today. Issued at Rs340, the stock opened at Rs380 on the NSE and saw a high of Rs453. The stock is trading at Rs436.

Textile company Shivalik Global got listed on the exchanges today. Issued at Rs60, the stock opened at Rs72 on the NSE and saw a high of Rs96.75. The stock is trading at Rs80.95

Gujarat Ambuja Exports, Sanwaria Agro and OCL are among the major gainers in mid-caps.

Adhunik Metallics, Malu Paper and Four Soft are among the mid-cap losers.