Mumbai, July 27 - A key index of the Indian equities markets was 76 points in the red about 90 minutes before the closing bell Monday.

Around 2 p.m., the 30-scrip benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the Sensex, which opened higher at 15,350.89 points, was at 15,302.76 points -- 76.2 points or 0.5 percent lower than Friday's closing figure.

Around the same time, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), too, was in the red, 0.45 percent down at 4,548.05 points.

Broader market indices were doing better with the BSE midcap index trading 1.02 percent higher and the BSE smallcap index moving up 0.98 percent.