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Benchmark indices are trading weak weighed down by financials and index heavyweights Reliance Inds and Infosys.
By 10:10, the Sensex was lower by 46 points at 20,805 mark and the Nifty dipped by 14 points at 6,197 levels.
According to Ravi Nathani, technical analyst, Nsetoday.com, "On charts Nifty has strong support around 6,130 close below this level would certainly open doors for 6,030. Panic selling could be expected only if it closed below 6,130."
Markets are expected to remain cautious in the week as investors anticipate the minutes of the US Federal Reserve's previous board meeting and the start of the December quarter earnings results' season.
Investors await the minutes of the Fed's December meeting, due on Thursday, for insights on the voting members' stance on the bond-buying programme, known as quantitative easing (QE).
Asian shares fell to a two-week low on Monday after growth in China's services sector slowed sharply last month, raising concerns about the pace of recovery in the world's second-largest economy, while safe-haven gold climbed.
The dollar hovered near a four-week high, supported by an upbeat outlook for the US economy from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that fanned expectations of faster stimulus reduction by the US central bank.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.7%, reaching a two-week low and adding to a 1.1% drop on Friday. The index lost 1.7% last year, sharply underperforming US, Japanese and European stocks.
Back home, the rupee is trading at 62.43/44 versus its close of 62.16/17 on Friday tracking the dollar's broad gains versus major currencies and other Asian units.
On the sectoral front, BSE Bankex and Power indices are down by 1% each followed by counters like Realty, Oil & Gas, Metal and IT, all declining marginally. However, BSE Consumer Durables and Healthcare indices have gained by almost 1% each.
The main losers on the Sensex at this hour include Tata Power, ICICI Bank, Reliance Inds, Sesa Sterlite, SBI, Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto and HDFC Bank.
On the gaining side, ONGC, Tata Motors, BHEL, Sun Pharma and Cipla have gained between 1-2%.
Among other shares, Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) have trading almost flat at Rs 573, after a huge block deal executed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
Sobha Developers lost 2.12% to Rs 326 after the company said that its sales volume declined 17.77% at 0.74 million square feet in Q3 December 2013 over Q3 December 2012.
The broader markets continue to outperform the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.2-1%.
The market breadth in BSE remains positive with 744 shares advancing and 481 shares declining.
