"brent-crude"

Tata Steel was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, shedding around 2 per cent, followed by Maruti, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, HDFC twins and TCS.

The 30-share BSE index was trading 279.13 points or 0.69 per cent lower at 40,428.18, and the broader NSE Nifty fell 80.05 points or 0.67 per cent to 11,857.60.

Most of the Asian currencies have started marginally weak against the US dollar this morning and could weigh on sentiments.

HCL Tech was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging around 3 per cent, followed by L&T, M&M, Tech Mahindra, Maruti, TCS, Asian Paints, Infosys and HDFC Bank.

ICICI Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, jumping over 5 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Nestle India, SBI, HDFC, ONGC and Kotak Bank.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 160.58 points higher at 39,888.99, and the broader NSE Nifty rose 45.75 points to 11,726.10.

"Rising number of COVID-19 cases is prompting worries about a new wave of lockdowns in Europe and hopes from US stimulus spending are fading", Reliance Securities said in a research note.

Tech Mahindra was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 2 per cent, followed by HCL Tech, TCS, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance and ITC.