The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex erased initial gains and was down 107 points in late morning trade amid capital outflows from foreign funds and overnight losses in the US stock markets.
Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth a net Rs 318.91 crore yesterday, according to provisional data from the stock exchanges.
The Sensex opened higher at 20,845.77 and moved up to 20,890.48 on strong buying. However, it declined afterwards to 20,637.18 and quoted at 20,680.69 at 1030 hrs, a drop of 106.61 points, or 0.51 per cent, from the previous close.
The 50-share CNX Nifty on the National Stock Exchange declined 41.50 points, or 0.67 per cent, to 6,149.75 at 1030 hrs.
The major losers were Axis Bank (-2.74 per cent), Tata Power (-1.59 per cent), ONGC (-1.32 per cent), Wipro (-1.32 per cent), Hindalco (-1.27 per cent), SBI (-1.23 per cent) and HDFC Bank (-0.91 per cent).
Asian stocks edged higher in early trade after Janet Yellen won US Senate confirmation yesterday to become the first woman to head the US Federal Reserve.
Key indices in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore and South Korea rose, while indices in Japan and Indonesia fell.
US stocks closed lower yesterday, with the S&P 500 index falling for the third consecutive session after weaker-than-expected services sector data.
