Barometers traded in a narrow range with modest losses in mid-morning trade. The Nifty traded near the 14,850 level. Media and realty stocks advanced while metal, IT and banks corrected. 
At 11:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 316.88 points or 0.64% to 49,185.20. The Nifty 50 index slipped 81.6 points or 0.55% to 14,860.30. 

The broader market outperformed the benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.37% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.78%. 

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1732 shares rose and 1021 shares fell. A total of 177 shares were unchanged. 

Investors locked profits after the Sensex rose 2.59% and the Nifty climbed 3.08% in the four consecutive sessions. 

COVID-19 Update: 

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 158,616,717 with 3,299,694 global deaths. 

India reported 37,15,221 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 249,992 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. 

The media reported that WHO has reclassified the highly contagious triple-mutant Covid variant spreading in India as a “variant of concern,” indicating that it's become a global health threat. WHO official said, "We classify it as a variant of concern at a global level”. 

Buzzing Index: 

The Nifty IT index slipped 0.9% to 26,036.15, snapping its four day winning streak. The index jumped 3% in the past four days. 

L&T Infotech (down 1.7%), Wipro (down 1.69%), Tech Mahindra (down 1.53%), TCS (down 1.31%), Mindtree (down 1.26%) and Infosys (down 0.74%) were top losers in IT space. 

Stocks in Spotlight: 

InterGlobe Aviation rose 0.72%. The aviation company on Monday announced that its board has approved the raising of funds for an amount not exceeding Rs 3,000 crore through an issue of equity shares by way of a qualified institutional placement (QIP). 

JSW Steel fell 2.74%. The crude steel production surged 143.51% to 13.71 lakh tonnes in April 2021 compared with 5.63 lakh tonnes in April 2020. On a month-on-month (M-o-M) basis, crude steel production declined 5% to 13.71 lakh tonnes from 14.46 lakh tonnes in March 2021. The average capacity utilisation was 91% during the month of April 2021 as against 96% in March 2021. The capacity utilization was lower sequentially in April 2021 due to priority in supply of liquid oxygen for medical purposes over augmenting steel production. During April 2021, over 20,000 tonnes of liquid oxygen for medical purposes was supplied from the steel complexes of the company. 

Global Markets: 

Asian stocks declined on Tuesday, following a sell-off in tech stocks that weighed down major U.S. indexes overnight. 

In the US, technology shares led the broader market lower on Monday as investors dumped high-flying Big Tech stocks, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 off their record highs.