Mumbai -- Weak Global Cues forced markets to register the negative opening today. Index heavy weights like ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, ABB, Hero Honda and HLL are down as selling pressure continues.

Asian stocks dipped on Wednesday, after the Thai military seized power in a coup. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average shed 177 points at 15,696, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 28 points at 17,318. The Kospi in Seoul declined 11 points at 1363 while the Taiex in Taiwan was unchanged at 6882 and the Straits Times in Singapore lost 14 points at 2523.

In the early morning trading session, the BSE 30-share Sensex has lost by 61 points at 11902 and NSE 50-share Nifty is down by 21 points to 3436. OBC, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, PNB, ICICI Bank, Tata Power and Cipla are the major losers among the 50-scrips of Nifty.

United Breweries has plunged by 3.6% to Rs. 137. The company intends to spend Rs. 4bn over the next three years to expand capacity. The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs. 142 and a low of Rs. 133 and has recorded volumes of over 1,00,000 shares on BSE.

On the other hand, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), a subsidiary of state-owned ONGC, has gained by 1.2% to Rs. 43 after company announced that it would spend Rs. 80bn on expanding capacity by 55%. The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs. 43 and a low of Rs. 41 and has recorded volumes of over 71,000 shares on BSE.

The market got some boost after BHEL has edged higher by 0.3% to Rs. 2259. The company advanced after it won a contract worth Rs. 12.24bn. The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs. 2267 and a low of Rs. 2221 and has recorded volumes of over 61,000 shares on NSE.

Shipping Corporation of India (SCI)has also gained by 2% to Rs. 157. According to reports Arcelor-Mittal is in advanced talks with SCI to form a global shipping Joint Venture. The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs. 167 and a low of Rs. 154 and has recorded volumes of over 43,000 shares on NSE.