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Markets have turned weak after making a marginally positive opening. By 9:25, the Sensex was lower by 56 points at 20,795 mark and the Nifty dipped by 19 points at 6,192 levels.
Markets are expected to remain 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).
US stocks ended a volatile session mostly flat on Friday as investors digested comments from Federal Reserve officials that raised questions about how quickly the central bank will end its stimulus program.
Wall Street opened higher but subsequently pared gains after Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser said the Fed faced "immense" challenges now that it had reduced bond-buying, and that it needed to be cognizant of a potential rapid rise in future inflation.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 28.64 points, or 0.17%, at 16,469.99. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 0.62 points, or 0.03%, at 1,831.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 11.16 points, or 0.27%, at 4,131.91.
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 on the US economy by 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 0.6%, 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.
Foreign investors were net buyers through last week at Rs 1,119 crore, including provisional figures released on Friday. Domestic institutions were net sellers through the week having sold stocks worth Rs 1,179 crore.
On the sectoral front, BSE Bankex and BSE Power index have plunged by nearly 1% each. Sectors like Capital Goods, Realty, Metal, Auto and FMCG are trading marginally positive. However, BSE Consumer Durables and IT indices are trading slightly up.
The main losers on the Sensex at this hour include Tata Power, M&M, L&T, NTPC, Bajaj Auto, Sesa Sterlite and RIL.
On the gaining side, ONGC, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Wipro and Cipla have gained between 0.3-1%.
Among other shares, Mastek has rallied 9% to Rs 177 in early morning deals on the BSE after the company announced a share buyback proposal.
The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.1-0.4%.
The market breadth in BSE remains positive with 587 shares advancing and 294 shares declining.
