Mumbai, Sep 17 (IANS): Fears over escalation in global trade protectionist measures and broadly negative Asian markets dragged the key Indian equity indices lower during the morning trade session on Monday.

The session saw heavy selling pressure in banking, consumer durable, capital goods and automobile counters.

At 9.30 a.m., the Nifty50 at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) traded at 11,418.25 points, lower by 96.95 points or 0.84 per cent from its previous close.

The S&P BSE Sensex which had opened at 38,027.81 points, traded at 37,781.06 points, lower by 309.58 points or 0.81 per cent from its previous close of 38,090.64 points.

So far, it has touched an intra-day high of 38,027.81 points and low of 37,776.57 points.

On September 14 the previous trade session the NSE Nifty50 closed at 11,515.20 points, higher by 145.30 points or 1.28 per cent from its previous close of 11,369.90 points.

Similarly, the barometer S&P BSE Sensex had made gains. It closed at 38,090.64 points, higher by 372.68 points or 0.99 per cent from its previous close of 37,717.96 points.