Benchmark indices hit the day's low and traded with losses in early afternoon trade. The Nifty was trading below the 17,150 level. Metal, media and pharmaceutical stocks saw buying while banking and financial shares came under selling pressure.
The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 540.93 points or 0.934% to 57,323. The Nifty 50 index lost 163 points or 0.94% to 17,124.25.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.37% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.46%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1543 shares rose and 1891 shares fell. A total of 145 shares were unchanged.
Gainers & Losers:
Coal India (up 4.7%), Hindalco Inds (up 2.62%), Maruti Suzuki (up 2.23%), ONGC (up 1.67%) and Tata Steel (up 1.49%) were top gainers in Nifty 50 index.
Britannia Inds (down 3%), Grasim Inds (down 2.83%), UltraTech Cement (down 2.65%), Tata Consumer Products (down2.53%) and SBI Life Insurance Company (down 2.44%) were top losers in Nifty 50 index.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) gained 2.7% after the steel maker said its wholly-owned subsidiary, Jindal Steel & Power (Mauritius), prepaid a $357 million loan to its lenders. The company said that this prepayment will help clear the entire debt on Jindal Steel & Power (Mauritius) (JSPML). This loan had corporate guarantees from JSP India, which will also get released.
Avantel gained 3.35% to Rs 945 after the company has received an order for an amount $13,66,000 from Lockheed Martin Corporation. The order is for the supply of Satcom Equipment.
Alembic Pharmaceuticals advanced 3.97% to Rs 755.35 after the drug company announced the receipt of final approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) for its ANDA for Lacosamide Tablets. The approved abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) is therapeutically equivalent to the reference listed drug product (RLD) Vimpat Tablets of UCB, Inc. Lacosamide Tablets are indicated for the treatment of partial-onset seizures in patients 4 years of age and older. It may not be indicated for certain other uses due to unexpired exclusivities for the RLD for such uses.
