Indian shares edged lower on the final day of August derivatives contract expiry.
At 0615 GMT, the S&P BSE Sensex shed 0.28 percent at 31,558 while the broader NSE Nifty declined 0.22 percent at 9,862.
Trading is likely to be volatile ahead of the expiry of August derivatives contract later in the day.
Among the top index losers: Coal India fell 1.2 percent, ICICI Bank dropped 1.1 percent, Infosys declined 1 percent while Mahindra & Mahindra lost 0.9 percent.
Fortis Healthcare dropped 3 percent after Supreme Court reaffirmed status quo order against Singh brothers in Fortis share sale case.
Biocon declined 1 percent after the company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will take 3 months more to review the application for a biosimilar version of Roche Holding AG's breast cancer drug.
Among the gainers, Schaeffler India jumped 13 percent after the company announced merger of its two arms to improve cost and supply-side efficiencies.
Majestic Auto surged 20 percent after the company said its board would meet on Thursday to consider sale of assets not exceeding to Rs 300 crore.
Market breadth was in the favour of losers, with about 2 stocks declining to every 1 stock that advanced.
Meanwhile Asian shares edged higher following upbeat Chinese and U.S. economic news.
A survey showed growth in Chinese manufacturing sector unexpectedly accelerated in August, confounding forecasts for a slight slowdown, Reuters reported.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.2 percent.
Wall Street got a boost on Wednesday when data showed the U.S. economy grew at an upwardly revised 3 percent annualized pace in the second quarter.
