Mumbai, Aug 10 - A key index of the Indian equities markets was trying to crawl back into the green early Monday afternoon, after slipping more than 178 points into the red earlier.

At 12.27 p.m., the 30-scrip benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the Sensex, which opened higher at 15,287.14 points, was at 15,123.59 points -- 36.65 points or 0.24 percent lower than Friday's close.

At around the same time, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), too, was trading in the red at 4,475.85 points, down 0.12 percent.

Broader market indices also came under selling pressure, with the BSE midcap index trading 0.31 percent lower and the BSE smallcap index moving down 0.9 percent.

On the BSE, auto, FMCG, and capital goods stocks came under selling pressure, while IT and healthcare stocks found favour among buyers.

The market breadth was tilted towards the negative, with 881 stocks rising, compared to 1,504 declining on the BSE and 75 remaining unchanged.