Indian markets opened the week to a sharp cut. Bombay Stock Exchanges Sensex was down 118.10 points or 0.67 per cent at 17,440.61. The 30-share index slipped to a low of 17,417.84 after opening at 17,536.86.

National Stock Exchanges Nifty was weaker by 33.65 points or 0.64 per cent at 5244.35. The 50-share index saw a low of 5231.45 versus a high of 5278.70.

Early trend showed information technology stocks taking the worst beating, with the BSE IT Index down 1.28 per cent at 5,289.02. The other big sector losers were metals, capital goods, realty, power. Gainers were led by consumer durables.

Among stocks, the top gainers were Tata Motors, Cipla, Mahindra & Mahindra, HDFC, RCom, and Bharti Airtel.

Losers included Wipro, Hindalco, Sterlite Industries, JP Associates, TCS, Infosys, ACC, DLF, Tata Steel, L&T.