The Sensex resumed lower at 17,827.25 and dropped further to a low of 17,800.29, but recovered later on to 17,881.70 before quoting at 17,864.89 at 1015 hours, still showing a loss of 20.37 points of 0.11 per cent from its last close.
The NSE 50-share Nifty also moved down by 6.85 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 5,414.15 at 1015 hours.
Major losers were Bharti Airtel (2.88 per cent), Tata Power (1.35 per cent), Sterlite Ind (1.28 per cent), Wipro (0.94 per cent), Jindal Steel (0.77 per cent) and NTPC (0.75 per cent).
Asian stocks dropped in the early trade after Japan reported a wider-than-expected trade deficit and as investors await developments from a euro-area finance ministers meeting this week to discuss details of the bailout package for Greece.
Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan were down by 0.36 per cent to 1.14 per cent.
Meanwhile, Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth net Rs 141.36 crore from the secondary equity markets as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
