Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 18 (ANI): Snapping the recent rallies, the Indian stock market's benchmark Sensex was trading 300 points down at around noon on Thursday dragged by selling pressure in pharma, IT and energy stocks.

The 30 stock SP BSE Sensex was trading at 59,960.19 points at 12.03 pm, which is 299.94 points or 0.50 per cent lower from its previous day's close at 60,260.13 points.

The Sensex started the day sharply lower at 60,080.19 points and hit a low of 59,946.44 points. The Sensex briefly turned positive in the morning session hitting a high of 60,287.13 points.

The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange was trading 76.45 points or 0.43 per cent down at 17,867.80 points against its previous day's close at 17,944.25 points.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories slumped 3.02 per cent to Rs 4189. Sun Pharma dipped 1.57 per cent to Rs 906.

IT stocks witnessed heavy selling pressure. Wipro slipped 1.85 per cent to Rs 434.90. Infosys fell 1.46 per cent to Rs 1583.35. Tata Consultancy Services was trading 0.78 per cent down at Rs 3374.

MahindraMahindra, Axis Bank, Nestle India, Titan, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance and ICICI Bank were among the major Sensex losers.

Bharti Airtel surged 1.82 per cent to Rs 734.90 after it received the allocation of 5G spectrum.

Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal praised the government for a quick 5G spectrum allocation. "No fuss, no follow up, no running around the corridors and no tall claims. This is ease of doing business at work in its full glory. In my over 30 years of first-hand experience with the DoT (Department of Telecommunications), this is a first! Business as it should be," Mittal said in a statement.

Kotak Bank, UltraTech Cement, LT, ITC and State Bank of India were among the major Sensex gainers. (ANI)