The markets lost more ground in the afternoon trade amid volatile trading, with the Sensex down by 80 points to 14206 levels.
Markets are likely to remain choppy throughout the day as the futures and options contracts for July 2008 series expires today.
The broader index Nifty is hovering around the 4300 levels, down by 13 points.
Among the sectors, banking continues to be in the red, with the sectoral index on the BSE down 1.56 per cent. FMCG is also another major loser, with the index down 1.87 per cent.
Metals continue to have a good run today, up about 1.15 per cent.
Among the Sensex stocks, Tata Motors and ITC continue to drag the Sensex down. The stock of the largest automaker in the country is down by over 5 per cent to Rs 395, while ITC has lost 3.7 per cent to Rs 180. Both these companies reported a drop in their quarterly numbers.
Asian markets are trading mixed on Thursday, with Shanghai and Taiwan benchmark indices in the red, while South Korea’s Kopsi and Japan’s Nikkei are in the green.