MUMBAI: Equity indices started the trade on a firm note on Monday with the Sensex climbing 254 points, but within minutes, the benchmarks pared all early gains to trade in the negative territory.
The BSE benchmark was trading with a jump of 253. 69 points at 51,614.11 in early trade. The Nifty too gained 69.6 points to 15,363.10. But, the benchmark indices failed to hold on to the initial gains, with the Sensex quoting 287.1 points lower at 51,073.32, while the Nifty declined by 94.75 points to 15,198.75.
From the Sensex pack, Tata Steel, M&M, PowerGrid, Tech Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro and ICICI Bank were among the major laggards.
On the other hand, HDFC, Hindustan Unilever, Sun Pharma and HDFC Bank were among the gainers. In Asia, markets were trading on a mixed note, with Tokyo and Seoul quoting lower, while Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading in the green.
Stock exchanges in the US ended mostly higher on Friday. Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.18 per cent to USD 112.95 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 7,818.61 crore on Friday, as per exchange data.