Among the top losers in trade were Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Larsen and Toubro, Hindalco and Infosys.

Nifty stocks that saw some buying support were Bhel and Bharti Airtel along with the other banking stocks. In fact, shares in banking stocks continued to trade higher with HDFC Bank, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank and State Bank of India among the early gainers.

PSU banks, however, saw some selling pressure with Allahabad Bank, Canara bank, IDBI Bank and Indian Overseas Bank among the early losers.

Ranbaxy fell after the company recalled more than 64,000 bottles of its cholestrol lowering drug in the United States.

Dishman Pharma was in the limelight after reports that it was planning to sell a portion of its land in Gujarat to pare its debt. The stock was up almost 3 per cent in trade. Mid cap stocks saw some selling pressure with Steel Authority of India and Union Bank among the early losers.

Meanwhile, Asian markets fell following weakish export data from China. Disappointing Japanese GDP data also pushed Asian indices lower.

The Chinese Shanghai Composite was down 1.5 per cent, while the Hong Kong's Hang Sang also fell more than 1 per cent in trade.

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