From correspondents in Maharashtra, India, 11:00 AM IST

Indian equities markets started in the negative terrain at opening bell Tuesday, with a key index ruling 87.23 points in the red.

The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened at 10,765.39 points, lower than its 10,979.5-point close Monday. After about 15 minutes of trading, it was at 10,892.27 points, 0.79 percent or 87.23 points lower than its previous close.

Similarly, the S and amp;P CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was at 3,344.9 points, 32.2 points lower than its previous close of 3,377.1 points.

The BSE midcap index was down 0.76 percent, while the BSE smallcap index was ruling 0.49 percent lower than its previous close.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)