Paring some of the early losses, the BSE benchmark Sensex was trading down by 40 points in the late morning trade on selling in banking, capital goods and metal sectors on lower advices from Asian markets, after the Federal Reserve signalled a faster timetable for raising rates.
The 30-share index resumed lower at 21,797.61 and hovered in a range of 21,812.46 and 21,746.42 before quoting at 21,793.00 at 1000hrs, showing a loss of 39.86 points or 0.18 per cent from its last close.
The NSE 50-share Nifty also moved down by 14.35 points or 0.22 per cent to 6,509.70 at 1000hrs.
Major losers were Axis Bank 2.10 per cent, ONGC 1.64 per cent, BHEL 1.58 per cent, Coal India 1.50 per cent, Larsen 1.16 per cent, SBI 0.96 per cent and HDFC 0.93 per cent.
However, Wipro firmed up by 1.65 per cent followed by Bharti Airtel 1.15 per cent and TCS 0.68 per cent.
Asian stocks fell in their early trade after the Federal Reserve signalled a faster timetable for raising rates. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia and Japan were down 0.25 per cent to 1.33 per cent.
US stocks slipped on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve's latest policy statement raised jitters about the prospect of interest rates rising sooner than anticipated.
Meanwhile, Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth net Rs 1,069.74 crore, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
