In line with their Asian neighbours, Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade poorly in the afternoon session, with the Sensex and Nifty falling below key psychological thresholds of 57,300 and 17100, respectively.

On the global front Asian markets were trading lower with KOSPI fell 71.61 points or 2.56% to 2,720.39, Hang Seng decreased 395.00 points or 1.6% to 24,261.46, Shanghai Composite declined 65.30 points or 1.85% to 3,458.81, Straits Times trembled 44.39 points or 1.35% to 3,238.96, Jakarta Composite lost 97.86 points or 1.47% to 6,557.31, Nikkei 225 slipped 457.03 points or 1.66% to 27,131.34 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 287.92 points or 1.6% to 17,701.12.

The Sensex is now trading at 57246.06, down 245.45 points or 0.43% after ranging between 56409.63 and 57626.95. On the index, there were 14 stocks that advanced and 16 stocks that declined.

The broader indices were trading in green with the BSE Midcap index rising 0.37%, while the Small cap index was up by 0.08%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.10%, PSU up by 1.54%, Power up by 1.48%, Utilities up by 1.33% and Bankex was up by 1.30%, while Energy down by 1.23%, IT down by 0.90%, Consumer Durables down by 0.64%, TECK down by 0.37%, Consumer Discretionary was down by 0.14% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 6.11%, Bharti Airtel up by 3.23%, SBI up by 3.18%, Indusind Bank up by 2.89% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.08%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.24%, Reliance Industries down by 1.99%, Titan Co down by 1.97%, Wipro down by 1.72% and HDFC Bank down by 1.58% were the top losers.

The Nifty is presently trading at 17097.45, down 51.65 points or 0.30% after fluctuating between 16836.80 and 17201.45. On the index, there were 28 stocks that advanced, 21 stocks that declined, and 1 stock that remained constant.

The top gainers on Nifty were Axis Bank up by 6.15%, Bharti Airtel up by 3.18%, SBI up by 3.08%, Indusind Bank up by 2.67% and Hero MotoCorp up by 2.02%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.26%, Titan Co down by 2.01%, Reliance Industries down by 1.98%, Wipro down by 1.71% and HDFC down by 1.57% were the top losers.