Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Tuesday opened lower while extending their fall in early trade amid foreign funds outflow and mixed trends in global markets.
At 11.30 am, the BSE Sensex declined 352 points to 55,413, while the broader NSE Nifty sank 107 points to 16,523.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, Dr Reddy's Lab, Nestle, Infosys, Asian Paints, HCL Technologies, TCS, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Larsen & Toubro were the biggest laggards in early trade. On the flipside, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, and Reliance Industries were among the gainers.
On NSE, Nifty IT dropped most by 1.2 per cent. Auto, Banks, and Pharma pockets were other notable losers. Nifty Metal was the only outperformer, up 0.5 per cent.
In the broader markets, Midcap and Smallcap shares were negative as Nifty Midcap 100 slipped 0.36 per cent and Smallcap shed 0.53 per cent.
The overall market breadth was slightly weak as 1,164 shares were advancing, while 1,264 were declining on the BSE.
In the previous session, Sensex had declined 306 points (0.55 per cent) to close at 55,766 on Monday, while Nifty had moved 88 points (0.53 per cent) lower to settle at 16,631.
In Asian markets, Tokyo traded lower, while Shanghai, Seoul, and Hong Kong quoted higher. The US markets had ended on a mixed note on Monday.
"Investors are likely to be in a wait-and-watch mode as all eyes will be on the Fed rate decision on July 27. Also, July F&O series expiry this Thursday shall keep markets volatile," said Prashanth Tapse - Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 1.39 per cent to 106.61 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth Rs 844.78 crore on Monday, as per exchange data.