Mumbai: The domestic markets opened lower in trade on Monday tracking other Asian markets, which dipped following lackluster Chinese data out over the weekend.
The S&P BSE Sensex fell over 200 points to trade below its key psychological level of 26,500, while broader CNX Nifty neared towards its crucial 8,050-mark.
At 12:08 pm, the 30-share was trading at 26,454.99, down 201.84 points, while 50-share index was quoting 8,013.35, down 52.45 points.
"Going forward, 8000 has become a major support in the near term. A breach of this support may trigger pessimism in the market, which may result in a continuation of this downward move towards 7850-7800 levels. On the higher side, in case of an intra-week bounce, 8180-8250 is likely to act as a strong resistance for the Nifty," said Angel Broking in a research note.
Market breadth remained negative with 21 of the 30 Sensex stocks trading in red.
Indian Overseas Bank tanked nearly 16 per cent after the company reported a net loss of Rs 550.83 crore for the second quarter ending September 30, 2015.
Brokers said persistent selling by participants following weaker-than-expected earnings by some companies and a weak trend at other Asian markets after weak Chinese manufacturing data for October fuelled fears about the state of the world's number two economy mainly dampened the sentiment.
Among Asian markets , China's Shanghai Composite was trading 1.15 per cent down, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dipped 0.88 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei settled the day 2.10 per cent downat 18,683.24.
On Friday, US markets closed in the red due to some late selling pressure after choppy trading on account of mixed economic data.
