Key benchmarks continued trading with modest losses in afternoon trade, dragged by weakness in IT shares. At 13:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 306.63 points or 0.86% at 35,167.88. The Nifty 50 index was down 71.05 points or 0.67% at 10,585.15. Subdued Asian indices weighed adversely on the domestic bourses.

Domestic stocks began trading on a negative note on subdued Asian indices. A sudden sell-off in index pivotals dragged indices to intraday low in morning trade. After a mild recovery in early afternoon trade, key benchmark indices traded near intraday low in afternoon trade.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.33%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was off 0.08%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 1,113 shares rose and 1,280 shares fell. A total of 127 shares were unchanged.

Infosys (down 3.53%), TCS (down 3.49%), Bajaj Auto (down 2.63%), Power Grid Corporation of India (down 2.61%), Reliance Industries (down 2.21%), Wipro (down 1.97%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.94%), were the major Sensex losers.

Yes Bank (up 3.25%), Axis Bank (up 1.67%), State Bank of India (up 1.66%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.43%), Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (up 1.37%), Asian Paints (up 1.17%) and Bharti Airtel (up 0.96%), were the major Sensex gainers.

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories jumped 6.87% after the company announced favorable outcome in Buprenorphine and Naloxone Sublingual Film patent litigation. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a decision in favor of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Inc., concluding that lndivior had not shown that it is likely to succeed on the merits of its infringement case on US Patent No. 9,931,305. This decision vacates the District Court's preliminary injunction that had prohibited Dr. Reddy's from selling its generic version of Suboxone (buprenorphine and naloxone) sublingual film. As a result of the ruling, Dr. Reddy's will resume its launch activities as soon as permitted. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 20 November 2018.

In June, the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approved Dr. Reddy's Buprenorphine and Naloxone Sublingual Film, in four strengths including 2 mg/0.5 mg, 4 mg/1 mg, 8 mg/2 mg, and 12 mg/3 mg, for sale in the US market. The product was launched immediately after approval, with sales and commercialization activities halted as a result of a court-imposted temporary restraining order (TRO) against Dr. Reddy's. The TRO did not include a prohibition on commercial manufacturing of the product.

Crude prices tumbled overnight amid a selloff in global stock markets fed by growing concerns about slowing global growth. In the global commodities markets, Brent for January 2019 settlement was up 81 cents at $63.34 a barrel. The contract had fallen $4.26 a barrel or 6.38% to settle at $62.53 a barrel during the previous trading session.

India imports majority of its crude requirements and a decline in crude eases concerns on fiscal deficit, inflation and gives more room for the government to boost growth through spending on infrastructure.

Overseas, most Asian stocks fell after another tumble on Wall Street, where concerns have spread to the corporate-bond market. US stocks closed sharply lower Tuesday, extending a pre-Thanksgiving rout that has been fueled mostly by a selling in shares of technology and internet-related companies. US financial markets will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving Day holiday and see an early close Friday.

On the US data front, housing starts came in at a 1.228 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in October, while permits came in at a 1.263 million rate. Year-over-year, growth in housing starts has steadily slowed in 2018.