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Markets slipped into the red after a flat opening session as selling in names like HDFC, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank and Infosys weighed on the indices.
At 1030 hrs, the Sensex was down seven points at 20,418 and the Nifty slipped by six points to trade at 6,053.
In the broader markets, the midcap index retained its gains and was up 0.2% and the smallcap index turned flat with a positive bias.
The rupee was quoting higher on corporate dollar inflows, with the pair at 62.28/29 versus its previous close of 62.50/51.
Dealers speculated that the inflows relate to Mylan Inc's purchase of a unit of Strides Arcolab Ltd. The deal was valued at around $1.6 billion when announced in February.
Among the sectoral indices, banking index, Bankex down 0.3% was the top loser followed by Teck, Power, IT, Realty and Health Care indices were down 0.1-0.2%.
On the other hand, Auto, Oil & Gas, FMCG, PSU, Consumer Durables and Capital Goods indices gained 0.2-0.6%.
Tata Motors up 1.5% along with Dr Reddys Lab, ONGC and Hindlaco up 1% each were teh top gainers among the Sensex-30.
Gail India, ITC, Tata Steel, L&T, reliance Industries, Jindal Steel and Coal India up 0.1-0.7% were the other prominent gainers.
Bharti Airtel down 2% was the top loser followed by Sesa Sterlite, Sun Pharma, HDFC Bank, BHEL, Tata Power, HDFC, Wipro, Cipla and Hindustan Unilever down 0.5-1.6%.
In individual stocks, Wockhardt plunged nearly 14% to Rs 406 on media reports that the U S Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) issued an import alert for the drug maker's Chikalthana facility at Aurangabad.
Cairn India was trading lower by 2% at Rs 319 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), after the company announced a buyback at a price not more than Rs 335 per share. The company will spend up to Rs 5,725 crore on the buyback.
The market breadth was marginally positive as 878 stocks advanced while 778 stocks declined on the BSE.
