The market reversed early trend and slipped into negative terrain in morning trade. At 10:35 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 62.64 points or 0.16% at 39,213. The Nifty 50 index was down 24.35 points or 0.21% at 11,762.80.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.79%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.97%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On BSE, 1391 shares rose and 624 shares fell. A total of 102 shares were unchanged.

Bharti Airtel (down 3.83%), Yes Bank (down 2.89%), Vedanta (down 2.65%), Tata Steel (down 1.77%), State Bank of India (down 1.76%) and IndusInd Bank (down 1.46%), were the major Sensex losers.

Tata Motors (up 2.23%), Reliance Industries (up 2.19%), Asian Paints (up 0.85%), Hero MotoCorp (up 0.44%), HCL Technologies (up 0.39%) and Maruti Suzuki India (up 0.18%), were the major Sensex gainers.

On the political front, voting in the second phase of the 2019 general elections began today, 18 April 2019, with 95 constituencies across 11 states and one Union Territory going to polls.

The 2019 Indian general election, which is scheduled to be held in seven phases, kicked off on 11 April 2019. It will conclude on 19 May 2019. The counting of votes will be conducted on 23 May, and on the same day the results will be declared

Overseas, Asian shares traded lower on Thursday. Chinese government data showed the country's economy grew 6.4% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2019, maintaining the pace seen in the last quarter of 2018 as factory output picked up steam.

US stocks closed lower Wednesday as the health-care sector slumped on concerns over potential adverse impact from future policy changes.

The US trade deficit fell 3.4% in February to the lowest level in eight months, the Commerce Department said. Meanwhile, wholesale inventories in the US rose a mild 0.2% in February and sales increased 0.3%.

Meanwhile, most of the US Federal Reserve's 12 district banks reported economic activity expanded at a "slight-to-moderate" pace in March and early April, according to the Federal Reserve's Beige Book report, released Wednesday.