The market turned subdued as market players resorted to profit booking after a sustained rise in stocks over the past few sessions.
The downtrend in the key Asian markets of Hong Kong and Japan also weighed down domestic indices, dealers said.
The BSE Sensex was down 35.6 points to 3,179.62 at 12:34 IST.
Tech stocks were mostly in the red. Top losers included Satyam Computer (down 3.6% to Rs 186.95), Hero Honda (down 3.3% to Rs 188.50), Hindustan Lever (down 2.7% to Rs 148.40) and Infosys Technologies (down 2.4% to Rs 4,274).
Second and third line tech stocks also lost heavily - Kale Consultants (down 4.2% to Rs 29.30), Aftek Infosys (down 4.4% to Rs 190.60), Sterlite Optical Technologies (down 4% to Rs 35.75), VisualSoft Technologies (down 3.9% to Rs 156.75), NIIT (down 3.4% to Rs 112), KPIT Infosystems (down 3.4% to Rs 163), Sonata Software (down 3.4% to Rs 14.20).
Dealers say a correction is taking place following a sustained rise in the last few trading sessions. The BSE Sensex surged 166.52 points, or 5.4%, in five sessions to settle at 3,215.24 on Monday. Market sentiment was lifted on expectations that the U.S.-Iraq war was in its final stages. That hope seems to have been ignited by the rapid advance of US troops towards the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
Asian markets fell today taking cue from volatile US markets on Monday. US markets pared a large part of gains on Monday after rallying earlier during the day. Concerns over a sluggish U.S. economy resurfaced during the day as investors soaked in possibilities of a post-war economic scenario.
In Asia today, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 125.40 points or 1.4% to 8,836.80 and the Nikkei 225 average in Japan fell 118.57 points or 1.44% to 8,131.41.
Some concern at home also stemmed from the fact that India reported its first suspected case of the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus, a mysterious respiratory illness. The first suspected case in India pertains to a U.S. citizen who was travelling to Mumbai from China. The disease has hit southern China, Singapore and Hong Kong the hardest, killing a total of 100 people worldwide and infecting over 2,600.
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