The domestic equity benchmarks further pared losses and with traded with modest cuts in early afternoon trade. After hitting the day's low at 15,687.80 in early trade, the Nifty managed to recoup losses and hovered near the 15,800 level. Pharma shares witnessed selling pressure for second consecutive session.

At 12:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 168.52 points or 0.32% to 53,008.93. The Nifty 50 index fell 58.35 points or 0.37% to 15,791.85.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.99% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.06%.

The market breadth was almost even. On the BSE, 1,542 shares rose and 1,583 shares fell. A total of 163 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index slipped 0.76% to 12,121.30. The index has lost 0.82% in two sessions.

Cipla (down 1.78%), Lupin (down 1.57%), Ipca Laboratories (down 1.46%), Divis Laboratories (down 1.43%) and Biocon (down 1.36%) were the top losers.

Among the other losers were Alembic Pharmaceuticals (down 1.13%), Alkem Laboratories (down 0.96%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 0.88%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 0.85%) and Strides Pharma Science (down 0.83%).

On the other hand, Abbott India (up 1.21%) ,Gland Pharma (up 0.92%) and Pfizer (up 0.33%) moved up.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 2.29% to 21.94. The Nifty 30 June 2022 futures were trading at 15,771.85, at a discount of 20 points as compared with the spot at 15,791.85.

The Nifty option chain for the 30 June 2022 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 114.5 lakh contracts at the 16,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 126.4 lakh contracts was seen at 15,700 strike price.