Mumbai, Aug 29 (IANS): Benchmark indices erased some early losses on Monday but continued to trade lower with Sensex down more than 800 points and Nifty down 250 points.

At 10.50 a.m., Sensex was trading 835.72 points or 1.42 per cent down at 57,958.15 and Nifty was trading 250.30 points or 1.43 per cent down at 17,308.60.

HCL Technologies, Infosys and Tech Mahindra were trading down more than 3.5 per cent on the BSE.

On Friday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalled the US central bank is likely to keep hiking interest rates and keep them elevated to tame inflation.

"Restoring price stability will likely require maintaining a restrictive policy stance for some time," Powell said. "The historical record cautions strongly against prematurely loosening policy," he added.

"Reducing inflation is likely to require a sustained period of below-trend growth. Moreover, there will very likely be some softening of labour market conditions. While higher interest rates, slower growth, and softer labour market conditions will bring down inflation, they will also bring some pain to households and businesses," Powell added.