Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices were in the negative zone during early hours on Wednesday as investors awaited fourth-quarter GDP data due to be released later this week and tracked weakness in Asian stocks. At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down 76 points at 39,674 while the Nifty 50 shed 24 points to 11,905.
Except for FMCG and IT, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red. Among the early losers was Vedanta which dropped over 3 per cent and State Bank of India which slipped 2.3 per cent. Dr Reddy and Zee Entertainment too shed about 2 per cent.
However, IT stocks like Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services and HCL showed some gains. Meanwhile, Asian shares sank as market sentiment soured over growing worries about the global economic growth with trade tensions between the United States and China showing no signs of easing.
Japanese and South Korean shares fell more than 1 per cent along with some declines in Hong Kong and China. US President Donald Trump is also pressing Japan to reduce its trade imbalance with the United States.