Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty opened on a tepid note on Thursday amid negative cues from global markets.

The 30-share Sensex was trading 46.4 points or 0.08 per cent lower at 58,203.86. Similarly, Nifty slipped 5.85 points or 0.03 per cent to 17,347.65 in initial deals.

Tech Mahindra was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 1 per cent, followed by M&M, Dr Reddy’s, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma, Titan and UltraTech Cement.

On the other hand, Kotak Bank, Bharti Airtel, SBI, Bajaj Finserv and Nestle India were among the gainers.

In the previous session, the 30-share index ended 29.22 points or 0.05 per cent lower at 58,250.26, and Nifty slipped 8.60 points or 0.05 per cent to 17,353.50.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 802.51 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional exchange data.

Domestic bourses appeared to be fatigued in recent trades after witnessing record highs in the last few weeks, said Binod Modi Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.

Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry has declared that the number of active Covid-19 cases in the country has increased to 3,93,614. A single-day rise of 43,263 new infections and 338 fatalities has pushed India's tally of cases to 3,31,39,981, and death toll to 4,41,749.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading with losses in mid-session deals, while Shanghai was positive.

US equities ended on a negative note in the overnight session.