The domestic equity indices were trading with small losses in early afternoon trade. The Nifty index hovered below 14,900 level. 

At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 203.50 points or 0.41% at 49,298.91. The Nifty 50 index lost 45.25 points or 0.30% at 14,897.10. 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.63% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 1.12%. 

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,840 shares rose and 1,004 shares fell. A total of 198 shares were unchanged. 

Derivatives: 

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 1.92% to 19.8350. The Nifty 27 May 2021 futures were trading at 14,928, at a premium of 30.90 points as compared with the spot at 14,897.10. 

The Nifty option chain for 27 May 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 26.6 lakh contracts at the 15,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 44.9 lakh contracts was seen at 14,000 strike price. 

Buzzing Index: 

The Nifty Media index rose 1.13% to 1,624.75. The index added 6.49% in five sessions. 

TV18 Broadcast (up 3.52%), Sun TV Network (up 3.33%), Network18 Media & Investments (up 1.46%), Inox Leisure (up 1.15%) and PVR (up 0.45%) were the top gainers in Media segment. 

Stocks in Spotlight: 

Federal-Mogul Goetze (India) advanced 2.27%. The firm has shut down its plant situated at Bangalore (Karnataka) starting from 10 May till 15 May 2021 in view of the current pandemic situation in the region. 

JMC Projects (India) slipped 1.56%. The company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 41.44 crore in Q4 FY21 as against net loss of Rs 54.76 crore in Q4 FY20. Net sales during the quarter increased 42.6% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 1,392.22 crore. The company posted a pre-tax profit of Rs 61.57 crore in the fourth quarter compared with pre-tax loss of Rs 52.32 crore reported in the same period last year. 

Coronavirus Update: 

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 15,89,55,775 with 33,03,858 deaths. India reported 37,15,221 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 2,49,992 deaths while 1,90,27,304 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. 

The country reported 3,29,942 cases in the last 24 hours taking the total caseload of COVID-19 cases to 2,29,92,517. The last time India recorded around 3.20 lakh cases in a day was on 27 April 2021 when a 24-hour count stood at 3,23,144 cases. 

The media reported that WHO has reclassified the highly contagious triple-mutant COVID-19 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".