Markets open on colourless note over weak Asian cues

Key indices on Monday opened on colourless note amid weak Asian cues. 

At 9:53 AM, Sensex was trading 24.53 points at 33,369.61 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 2.65 points at 10,280.10. 

Among the top gainers were Biocon whose stakes rose 5.2% to Rs414.70 after the company said it got clean chit from the US FDA for Bengaluru unit.

Larsen & Toubro Ltd also rose 1.5% to Rs1,240 after the it got order worth Rs8,650 crore to build Mumbai trans-harbour link.

Asian shares eased on Monday, with investor sentiment hurt by a retreat on Wall Street and sliding Chinese stocks, while the euro skidded after German coalition talks hit an impasse.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan extended losses and was down 0.2%. 

Australian shares were down 0.1 percent, while Japan's Nikkei stock average was 0.6 percent lower.

China stocks fell sharply after Beijing set sweeping new guidelines to regulate asset management products. Analysts said that could dampen investor appetite for riskier assets.

The Shanghai Composite index was down 0.8%, while China's blue-chip CSI300 Index fell 0.7%. 

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated by 5 paise to 65.06 against the dollar today after renewed demand for the US currency from importers.

The dollar made headway against the euro after Angela Merkel's attempts to form a new government for Europe's biggest economy collapsed, plunging Germany into a crisis. A subdued start at domestic stock markets cast its shadow, traders said.