The key benchmark indices gave up their early gains to trade lower in the afternoon deals today. The Sensex was down 127 points at 15,925 levels and the Nifty shed 0.5 per cent to trade at 4,727.

IT and oil & gas counters led the decline on the bourses.

The oil & gas index on the BSE was down over 2 per cent. The BSE IT index fell 1.3 per cent.

Among the Sensex stocks, Bharti Airtel and RCom were the main losers. The stocks fell over 5 per cent each. Bharti Airtel today reported a 13 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 2,321 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2009.

Sensex heavyweight RIL was also down 2.6 per cent.

Asian stock markets snapped three days of losses on Friday after the US economy broke out of a year-long slump, spurring hopes of improved demand for the region's exports.

Major benchmarks from Toyko to Sydney gained 1.5 percent or more while oil hovered near $80 a barrel on expectations the U.S. expansion signals improved demand for crude.

The Commerce Department's report that gross domestic product rose at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the third quarter reinvigorated investors who had dumped stocks for much of the week on signs of a slowing U.S. housing market and weak consumer confidence.