Benchmark indices continued hovering near the day's low in early afternoon trade. The Nifty index slipped below 14,300 level. Barring the Nifty FMCG index, all the sectoral indices on the NSE declined. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 391.26 points or 0.80% at 48,643.41. The Nifty 50 index lost 136.40 points or 0.95% at 14,297.30.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.90% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 1.82%.
The market breadth was very weak. On the BSE, 698 shares rose and 2,081 shares fell. A total of 141 shares were unchanged.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 4.03% to 24.98. The Nifty 28 January 2021 futures were trading at 14,305.40, at a premium of 8.10 point compared with the spot at 14,297.30.