The BSE Sensex trimmed initial losses but was still trading lower by 28 points on sustained selling pressure, mainly in banking, capital goods, power, oil & gas and auto stocks on weak cues from Asian markets.
The 30-share index resumed lower at 21,793.32 and hovered in a range of 21,859.72 and 21,768.14 before quoting at 21,798.51 at 1015 hours, showing a loss of 27.91 points, or 0.13 per cent, from its last close.
The 50-share NSE Nifty was also down 13.00 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 6,498.90 at 1015 hours.
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Major losers were BHEL (1.93 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (1.87 per cent), L&T (1.63 per cent), SBI (1.52 per cent), Axis Bank (1.46 per cent), ONGC (1.40 per cent) and Hindalco (1.28 per cent).
Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought shares worth net Rs 1,471.23 crore yesterday, as per the provisional data from the stock exchanges.
Asian stocks fell in early trade as oil dropped and emerging-market and commodity-linked currencies weakened amid concern that China’s economy may be faltering.
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The key benchmark indices in China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan were down 0.3-2.14 per cent.