The benchmark BSE Sensex slipped by 80.49 points in late morning trade on bouts of heavy profit booking in key stocks of banking, telecom, utilities, IT, power and industrial sectors.
Earlier, the market opened positive on good bouts of value buying amid mixed Asian cues and overnight encouragement from global rating agency Moody's that said investment levels in India are showing early signs of recovery, driven by an upturn in capital expenditure and increased public spending.
The 30-share Sensex resumed higher at 26,239.39 and hovered between a high of 26,256.42 and a low of 26,044.26.
The gauge was trading at 26,088.92 at 1100 hours, showing a fall of 80.49 points, or 0.31 per cent, from its last close.
The NSE 50-share Nifty was also trading lower by 29.35 points, 0.37 per cent, at 7,925.55 at 1100 hours.
Major losers were SBI (1.81 per cent), ICICI Bank (1.63 per cent), Infosys (1.30 per cent), Bharti Airtel (1.24 per cent), BHEL (1.22 per cent), HUL (0.81 per cent) and HDFC (0.76 per cent).
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 106.78 yesterday, as per provisional data released by stock exchanges.
Major gainers were Bajaj Auto (1.94 per cent), ICICI Bank (1.63 per cent), Tata Motors (1.57 per cent), Maruti (1.23 per cent) and L&T (1 per cent).
Globally, Asian markets were trading mixed, while US stocks rose yesterday, helped by rebound in health and consumer shares.
