MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex was headed for a fifth consecutive daily loss on Tuesday after earlier hitting its weakest level since Sept. 29, as oil producers such as Oil and Natural Gas Corp extended falls after crude prices tumbled to seven-year lows.
Crude prices have remained under pressure as global oversupply has been compounded by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) decision last week to keep output high, though on Tuesday they edged away from seven-year lows.
At the same time, emerging markets are bracing for the Fed to raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade after its two-day meeting on Dec. 15-16.
Foreign investors have sold a net $1.6 billion in shares since the start of November, though they remain buyers of $3.3 billion so far this year.
"The weakness in crude is good for India. But the global weakness in commodities indicates that the global growth could slow down further," said HDFC Securities in an email to clients.
The benchmark BSE index was down 0.4 percent at 1230 India time (0700 GMT) after earlier falling as much as 0.5 percent to a 10-week low.
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The broader Nifty fell 0.35 percent after earlier losing as much as 0.4 percent to its weakest since Nov. 18.
Oil producers led the decliners, with ONGC losing 3.4 percent and headed for a fourth consecutive daily fall.
Broadly, foreign-owned blue chips were also lower, with HDFC Bank down 1.1 percent and Larsen & Toubro down 0.7 percent.
But software services exporters, which benefit from a weaker rupee rose, with Infosys Ltd up 1 percent.
(Reporting by Rafael Nam; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)