The Sensex was trading lower by 75 points, while the Nifty drifted 25 points in early trade. Banking stocks once again led losers in trade with ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank and Yes Bank among the losers.

Maruti Suzuki was trading marginally lower after it cut products prices following a reduction in excise duty by the government.

Shares in NMDC were down 1 per cent after the company decided on a wage pact that is likely to affect the bottomline of the company.

Software stocks which had rallied substantially in trade on Wednesday were trading mixed. While TCS and Wipro gained, HCL Tech and Infosys dropped in early trade.

Mid cap stocks also lost ground along with the broad markets. Among the stocks that fell in trade were Adani Enterprises, JSW Steel and Union Bank of India.

HeroMotor Corp also fell after the company cut prices of its products. UFLEX dropped as much as 9 per cent, after reports of IT raids at the premises of the company.

Financial Technologies which rallied 5 per cent on Wednesday following news of the likely buyout by Tech Mahindra, was up 3 per cent again in trade.

Meanwhile, most of the Asian markets were trading lower, following the Fed Minutes, which hinted at the possibility of further QE3 easing.

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