At 10:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 104.28 points or 0.18% to 57,821. The Nifty 50 index lost 46.30 points or 0.27% to 17,030.60.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.58% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.50%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,249 shares rose and 1,835 shares fell. A total of 119 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 995.01 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,668.85 crore in the Indian equity market on 23 March, provisional data showed.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index lost 1.50% to 5,415.45. The index advanced 0.10% in the past trading session.

Steel Authority of India (down 2.91%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 2.23%), Ratnamani Metals & Tubes (down 1.7%), Tata Steel (down 1.33%), Hindalco Industries (down 1.27%), JSW Steel (down 0.85%), Hindustan Copper (down 0.81%), National Aluminium Company (down 0.71%), Welspun Corp (down 0.55%) and APL Apollo Tubes (down 0.41%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Lupin fell 0.02%. The drug maker on Thursday announced that it has received tentative approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA), Obeticholic Acid Tablets.

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) added 0.63% after the company said that Rachana -RVNL joint venture (JV) has received letter of acceptance (LOA) for a project aggregating to Rs 252.21 crore in Gujarat.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) declined 0.18%. IRCTC said that it has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) for a period of 5 years.