Key benchmark indices continued trading lower in afternoon trade. At 14:18 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 165.98 points or 0.50% at 33,008.41. The Nifty 50 index dropped 52.90 points or 0.52% at 10,131.25. The Sensex was trading above 33,000 level after falling below that level in intraday trade. Weakness in global stocks weighed on sentiment on the domestic bourses. Metal and pharmaceutical shares witnessed selling pressure.
Key indices started the session on a negative note amid weakness in global stocks. Indices extended losses in morning trade and traded with modest losses in mid-morning trade. Key indices trimmed losses with the Nifty hitting intraday high in early afternoon trade.
Among secondary indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.50%, matching the Sensex's fall in percentage terms. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.74%, underperforming the Sensex.
The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 1,628 shares declined and 820 shares advanced. A total of 187 shares were unchanged.
Overseas, shares in Europe and Asia dropped, mirroring overnight slide on Wall Street. US stocks closed sharply lower yesterday, 27 March 2018, erasing earlier gains, as a decline in the broader tech sector brought the major indices down. Last week, reports emerged alleging that Cambridge Analytica, an analytics company, had gathered data from 50 million Facebook profiles without users' permission, raising concerns over data privacy.
Back home, metal shares declined. Tata Steel (down 3.23%), National Aluminium Company (down 2.22%), Hindustan Copper (down 2.17%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 2.15%), Hindustan Zinc (down 1.87%), Steel Authority of India (down 1.71%), Hindalco Industries (down 1.67%), NMDC (down 1.53%), JSW Steel (down 1.29%) and Vedanta (down 0.82%), edged lower.
Pharmaceutical shares fell. Alkem Laboratories (down 8.56%), Cadila Healthcare (down 1.91%), Strides Shasun (down 1.17%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 0.99%), IPCA Laboratories (down 0.87%), Cipla (down 0.77%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 0.76%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 0.43%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (down 0.41%), Lupin (down 0.24%), Piramal Enterprises (down 0.13%) and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 0.01%), edged lower. Wockhardt (up 0.03%) and Divi's Laboratories (up 1.42%), edged higher.
On the macro front, the total revenue received under Goods and Services Tax (GST) for the month of February 2018 (received in February/March upto 26 March) has been Rs 85174 crore. 1.05 crore taxpayers have been registered under GST so far till 25 March 2018.
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