Among the gainers at this time were Hero Honda, up 1.83 percent at Rs.1,438.10; BHEL, up 1.2 percent at Rs.2,278.20; ACC, up 1.16 percent at Rs.767.20, and Infosys, up 1.06 percent at Rs.2,014.

Among losers were HDFC Bank, down 1.66 percent at Rs.1,456; ITC, down 1.33 percent at Rs.222.30; Sun Pharma, down 1.32 percent at Rs.1,172.50, and Hindustan Unilever, down 1.15 percent at Rs.254.10.

Other Asian markets were trading mixed, with the Nikkei, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, ending 145.21 points lower at 10,238.2 points, 1.4 percent down from its previous close.

At the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the main index was ruling up 1.69 percent up, while the primary index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Hang Seng, was ruling in the red at 20,152.77 points, down 176.09 points or 0.87 percent.