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Market edged lower in morning trades on final day of March derivative expiry over exacerbating euro-zone debt concerns amid US growth recovery woes after pending home sales fell.
European governments and the International Monetary Fund agreed Monday to lend Cyprus 10 billion euros ($13 billion) as long as the country liquidated its second-largest bank and forced losses on bank bondholders and deposits of more than 100,000 euros.
Trading was also lacklustre as investors roll-over their derivative contracts to next month on the last day of Futures & Options expiry.
At 9:55AM, the Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share index Sensex fell 97 points at 18,606.53 while the National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty dropped 30 points at 5,613.60.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei down 1.6% to 12,298, Strait Times fell 0.14% to 3,308, Hang Seng declined 1% to 22,220 while Shanghai dropped 2.6% to 2,240.
Back home, real-estate, consumer durables, autos, banks, oil & gas sectors dropped while IT, healthcare and metals were among the gainers on BSE.
Among individual stocks, GAIL rose 2%, Coal India gained 1.2%, Infosys added 1%, Sterlite and Hindalco Industries rose 1% nearly on BSE.
The laggards were Hero MotoCorp and Tata Motors falling over 2-3%, Bharti Airtel declined 2.3%, Mahindra & Mahindra fell 2%, Reliance Industries was down 1% on BSE.
The broader markets were lower with mid-caps and small-caps dropping 0.1-0.2% on BSE.
The market breadth was negative. Out of 1,529 stocks traded, 834 stocks declined compared to 612 advances on BSE
