At 9:20 am, the Sensex traded 47.00 points - or 0.13 per cent - lower at 37,281.01, while the Nifty was down 17.80 points - or 0.16 per cent - at 10,999.20.

Top percentage laggards on the 50-scrip index at the time were Britannia, Yes Bank, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Dr Reddy's, Hindalco and Tata Motors, trading between 1.49 per cent and 3.49 per cent lower. On the other hand, Eicher Motors, Infosys, Bharat Petroleum, GAIL and Sun Pharma - trading between 0.51 per cent and 1.52 per cent higher - were the top gainers on the Nifty.

Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro, Kotak Bank and HDFC Bank weighed on the Sensex the most.

Market breadth favoured losses with 367 stocks trading higher on the BSE and 516 in the negative territory. On the NSE, 615 stocks advanced while 834 declined.

The Reserve Bank of India will later in the day release the minutes of the bi-monthly policy review meeting of the MPC, which concluded on August 7. The minutes will contain statements from the six MPC members, offering more details on the RBI's take on the key interest rates in the coming months.

Equities in other Asian markets flatlined as worries about global recession and endless trade wars vied with hopes for a lot more monetary and fiscal stimulus to keep growth going.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dithered either side of flat after three straight days of gains. Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.4 per cent, while Shanghai blue chips lost 0.1 per cent.

Faring a bit better were E-Mini futures for the S&P 500, which added 0.25 per cent, while EUROSTOXX 50 futures edged up 0.1 per cent.

US President Donald Trump showed no signs of backing down in his tussle with China, declaring on Tuesday a confrontation was necessary even if it caused short-term harm to the US economy.