The benchmark BSE Sensex was trading lower by nearly 120 points following sustained selling in metal, oil & gas, healthcare and auto stocks amid weak Asian cues.

Markets turned volatile owing to weak Asian cues President Donald Trump's failure on healthcare reform raised questions about his ability to push through tax cuts and fiscal spending to boost the economy.

At 2.35 pm, the 30-share BSE index Sensex was down 118.84 points or 0.4 per cent at 29,302.56 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 40.25 points or 0.44 per cent at 9,067.75.

Among BSE sectoral indices, metal index fell the most by 2.44 per cent, followed by oil & gas 1.04 per cent, healthcare 0.69 per cent and auto 0.45 per cent. On the other hand, consumer durables index was up 0.47 per cent, capital goods 0.14 per cent, power 0.08 per cent and FMCG 0.04 per cent.

Major Sensex losers were Reliance (-2.87%), Tata Steel (-2.83%), Coal India (-2.06%), Wipro (-1.46%) and ONGC (-1.43%), while the top five gainers were State Bank of India (+1.25%), Power Grid (+1.24%), HDFC (+0.68%), Dr Reddy's (+0.64%) and ITC (+0.2%).

Software services exporters and drug makers were hit by worries about the impact of a stronger rupee.

“Both global and domestic factors are riding the market today,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.

Strong rupee

The rupee was trading at 65.0575 after earlier strengthening to as much as 65.04 per dollar, the strongest level since October 2015.

The rally in the rupee sent IT shares lower, with Tech Mahindra Ltd down 2.2 per cent and HCL Technologies Ltd down 1.9 per cent.

Drug makers also fell, with Lupin Ltd and Aurobindo Pharma Ltd falling 2 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively.

Reliance Industries Ltd plunged after the Securities and Exchange Board of India accused the company of having committed a “fraud" in taking a short trading position at the time of selling a stake in a unit 10 years ago.

Reliance strongly denied the ruling and said it would appeal.

Energy major Coal India fell as much as 2.5 per cent, as the second interim dividend announced by the mining firm disappointed investors.

Asian shares

US stock futures and the dollar fell on Monday while Asian markets struggled as President Donald Trump's failure on healthcare reform raised questions about his ability to push through tax cuts and fiscal spending to boost the economy.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was broadly flat after posting its first weekly decline last week in three weeks.

Japan's Nikkei fell 1.5 per cent as the yen rebounded in the face of renewed US dollar weakness.