Mumbai, Nov 18 (IANS) Indian equities opened lower Wednesday and fell further within a few minutes into trading, even though sentiments remained positive on account of positive cues both in the domestic domain and from overseas.

The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened at 17,032.01 points, against the previous day's close at 17,050.65 points, and fell further to 16,990.80 points a few minutes into trading.

Some 10 minutes thereafter, it was ruling at 17,023.08 points, down 27.57 points, or 0.16 percent, data with the exchange showed.

Among the Sensex scrips, 11 were in the green, 18 others were ruling in the negative territory, while one scrip remained unchanged. Infosys was leading the gainers, up 1.23 percent at Rs.2,426.30, while Tata Steel led the losers, down 1.29 percent at Rs.530.90.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader S&P CNX Nifty was ruling at 5,048.20 points, against the previous close at 5,062.25 points, with a loss of 14.05 points, or 0.28 percent.