The benchmark Sensex pared some of the early losses, but was still down 73.77 points at 31,724.07 in late morning deals, as selling pressure witnessed in key front-line stocks amid weak global cues.
Sentiments were subdued after escalating geo-political tensions between the US and North Korea, while capital outflows hovered around the bourses.
IT, Teck, Metal and Realty witnessed some buying interest.
The Sensex resumed lower at 31,750.73 and hovered in a range of 31,756.27 before quoting 31,588.26 at 1125 hours, down 73.77 points, or 0.23 per cent.
The NSE 50-share Nifty also traded lower by 22.60 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 9,885.45 at 1125 hours.
Major losers were Tata Motors 6.72 per cent, Tata Mtrdvr 6.66 per cent, ONGC 1.48 per cent, SunPharma 1.23 per cent, NTPC 1.12 per cent and Bajaj Auto 1.08 per cent.
Gainers included Infosys 1.57 per cent, Dr Reddy 1.30 per cent and Heromotoco 1.28 per cent.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 841.44 crore yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges and the Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 553.17 crores.
Overseas, Asian stocks were trading lower as investors continued to take risks off the table even as American officials tried to ease concerns amid an escalation in tensions between the US and North Korea.
US stocks closed lower yesterday as tensions between North Korea and the US added a dollop of geo-political uncertainty to markets, and as high-profile companies disappointed with their quarterly results.
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