Mumbai, Oct 9 (IANS): The key equity indices traded in the negative territory during the mid-afternoon trade session on Tuesday.

Although it opened in the green, the Sensex was down 150 points and the Nifty traded below the 11,300-mark owing to the sliding rupee and steadily high crude oil prices.

Sector-wise only metal and finance stocks were made gains. Heavy selling pressure was also witnessed in the auto, FMCG and consumers durables counters.

In addition, heavy outflows of foreign funds have dented the investors' sentiments.

In the last five sessions starting from October 1, FII (Foreign Institutional Investor) have divested close to Rs 12,000 crore, indicative of the negative investor sentiments.

"The FII largely depend on the macro of a country. Right now India's macro economic senario is not infusing confidence in the foreign investors owing to the falling rupee, which is a major trigger," said Astha Jain, Senior Analyst , Hem Securities.

"Also, the rising interest rate in the US and the expectation of more hikes is another trigger for pushing investors to pull out money from the emerging markets."

At 12.48 p.m., the broader Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange was trading at 10,285.10 points, down 62.95 points or 0.61 per cent from its Monday's close.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex, which had opened at 34,651.82, was trading at 34,325.64, down 148.74 points or 0.43 per cent.

So far, the Sensex has touched an intra-day high of 34,711.68 points and a low of 34,285.06 points.