In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 was seen trading up by 0.36%, the Hong Kong's Hang Seng was higher by 2.19% and Shanghai Composite was up by 0.05%. However, China's factory activity plunged in June as new export orders contracted.

Back in India, the Sensex was trading at 17,405 points, down 18 points. The Nifty was also trading lower by 4 points at 5,274 points.

On the sectoral front on BSE, sectors were trading mixed. The Oil & Gas, Auto, Bankex were trading in the red in early morning trade.

Among the shares that gained ground in morning trade were Cairn India, Tata Steel, HCL Technologies and Sesa Goa.

Stocks that failed to lure investors in early trade were Hero Motocorp, Tata Motors, ONGC and BPCL.

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