Sensex down over 120 points, Nifty below 10,900

Mumbai: Indian markets traded on a choppy note during Wednesday afternoon's trade session over concerns of slowing global economy and the ongoing US-China trade tension. Sensex lost over 120 points and the Nifty slid below the 10,900 mark.

The Indian rupee, however, gained 17 paise to trade at 71.27 against the US dollar, providing some support to the overall dismal sentiment. It closed at 71.27 per dollar on Tuesday.

At 2.30 p.m., the S&P BSE Sensex traded 128.60 points lower or 0.35 per cent at 36,316.04 after it opened marginally higher.

The broader Nifty lost 30.75 points or 0.28 per cent at 10,892.

Metal stocks were back in favour on Wednesday after closing 2 per cent lower on Tuesday, while IT and financials came under selling pressure.

Markets globally had reversed course after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised down its forecast for global growth.

Analysts said IMF now projects a 3.5 per cent growth rate worldwide for 2019 and 3.6 per cent for 2020 which is 0.2 and 0.1 percentage points below its last forecasts in October 2019, making it the second downturn revision in three months.

Investors were also cautious owing to reports that the US turned down an offer to hold preparatory trade talks with China. This was later denied by the US administration.