Indian Stock Markets were trading lower on Monday after opening negative. The markets across Asia were lower with Nikkei 225 losing 1.4%, Hang Seng down by 1.7% and Straits Times down by 0.67%. BSE Sensex was down by 1.1% at 19280. NSE Nifty was down by 1.2% at 5799.

Among most active stocks, SBI was down by 1.2%. There were media reports that SBI could increase the ticket size for home loans. The bank has seen 16% rise in its home loan portfolio over the past year. With SBI offering the lowest rates for home loan consumers, the bank has witnessed good numbers. Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram has asked banks to lower the rates and pass on the benefits of rate cuts to consumers. Finance Minister expects the economy to get support as loans become easier for consumers.

Tata Motors was trading nearly four per cent lower as there were reports of the company production at JLR coming to a halt for a week. Banking stocks were trading lower with ICICI Bank, HDFC, Axis Bank, IDFC and Bank of Baroda trading in red.

Reliance was down by 1.6%. DLF was also trading lower. Among gainers were some select stocks from IT sector.

USD gained further against the Indian currency as the US Jobs report for June was better than analyst expectations. Indian currency was also down by nearly 1.3% compared to Euro. RBI was selling dollars via nationalised banks to curb the volatility in currency markets.