With the mood turning watchful, many frontline stocks have drifted lower after making a bright start.

At 11:40 a.m., the Sensex was up by 42 points at 8821, while the Nifty gained 11.35 points at 2717.50.

Realty, pharmaceutical, consumer durables and metal stocks lost their earlier gains and turned weak. Various from PSU, FMCG, auto and power stocks too have declined on account of selling pressure.

Tokyo  - Stocks ended Thursday morning trading in Tokyo lower as investors sold export-oriented issues on the yen's advance against other major currencies.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average dipped 12.03 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 7,889.61.

The broader Topix index of all first section issues was also down 0.95 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 786.2.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 89.04-09 yen, down from Wednesday's 5 pm quote of 89.89-92 yen.

The stock market continued its run in the negative zone on account of selling pressure witnessed in blue chip stocks.

The BSE Sensex has slipped a bit deeper into the red zone this afternoon.

Banking, metal and realty stocks were the worst smacked ones among the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). These counters lost more than 2% each. But, FMCG sector went up.

Midcap and small cap stocks have also hit badly. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices down 0.82% and 0.71% respectively.

Seoul - Shares continued to fall Wednesday on t

Tokyo - Japan's key Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell below 8,000 to end Wednesday trading as the market sentiment was dampened by concerns over the US and European financial sectors.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 164.15 points, or 2.04 per cent, to close at 7,901.64.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues was down 17.88 points, or 2.22 per cent, to 787.15.

On currency markets at midday (0300 GMT), the dollar traded at 90.00-05 yen, down from Tuesday's 5 pm quote of 90.41-43 yen.

Indian stock market belled the day negatively after falling 2.45% during its last closure tracking depressing signs from worldwide shores sparked by fresh worries that the global banking crisis may be far from over.

The 30-share index, BSE Sensex, today (Wednesday, Jan 21) opened at 8,900 after losing 199.77 points.