The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday were trading flat in morning trade tracking muted global cues following hawkish commentary from Fed officials in the US.
At 9.30 am, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 113 points to 60,550. On the other hand, NSE Nifty50 was trading at 17,806, down 65 points.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tata Motors, Maruti, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance, Kotak Bank were trading in the red. On the flip side, L&T, Power Grid, Bajaj Finance, TCS, Asian Paints emerged early gainers.
Adani Group stocks came under renewed selling pressure after MSCI received feedback from market participants on concerns related to the eligibility and free float determination of stocks. It said it is reviewing the free float status as certain investors should no longer be designated as free float. In early morning trade, Adani Enterprises plunged 15 per cent, Adani Ports and Ambuja Cements 6 per cent, Adani Transmission and Adani Power 5 per cent.
In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were around 0.07 per cent higher.
Within sectors, Nifty Metal slipped the most by over 1 per cent, followed by auto and oil & gas pockets, while IT and pharma indices held marginal gains.
In the previous session on Wednesday, the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 378 points to close at 60,664 levels. On the other hand, the Nifty50 closed at 17,872, rallying 150 points.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul were trading with gains in mid-session deals while the Tokyo market closed in the negative territory. Equities on Wall Street ended significantly lower in the overnight trade.
The international oil benchmark Brent slipped 0.11 per cent to $85 per barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in capital markets as they offloaded shares worth Rs 736.82 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 12 paise to 82.66 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday, weighed down by sustained foreign fund outflows and a muted trend in domestic equities. Firm crude oil prices and a strong American currency further dented investor sentiments, forex traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 82.59 against the dollar, then fell to 82.66, registering a decline of 12 paise over its last close. In the previous session on Wednesday, the rupee appreciated 16 paise to close at 82.54 against the US dollar after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked the repo rate by 25 basis points.