The key equity indices continued to trade with small losses in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 17,600 level, after hitting the day's high of 17,709.15 in morning trade. IT, consumer durables and pharma stocks advanced while oil & gas, bank and realty shares declined. 
At 12:28IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 121.42 points or 0.20% to 59,209.48. The Nifty 50 index shed 37.55 points or 0.21% to 17,573.50. 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.29% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.15%. 

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,588 shares rose and 1,846 shares fell. A total of 196 shares were unchanged. 

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 4.05% to 18.0225. The Nifty 23 February 2023 futures were trading at 17,683.20, at a premium of 109.7 points as compared with the spot at 17,573.50. 

The Nifty option chain for the 23 February 2023 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 25.4 lakh contracts at the 18,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 28 lakh contracts were seen at 17,500 strike price. 

The Nifty IT index rose 0.88% to 30,029. The index declined 1.82% in previous two sessions. 

Coforge up 3.03%,Mphasis up 1.86%, Infosys up 1.3%, Persistent Systems up 1.05%, Wipro up 0.69%,HCL Technologies up 0.69%,Tech Mahindra up 0.57%, L&T Technology Services up 0.52%,Tata Consultancy Services up 0.31% and LTI Mindtree up 0.24% advanced. 

Zen Technologies gained 3.30% after the aerospace company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 9.44 crore in Q3 FY23 as against net loss of Rs 0.18 crore in Q3 FY22. Revenue from operations zoomed 222.8% to Rs 52.49 crore in the quarter ended December 2022 as against Rs 16.26 crore posted in same quarter last year. 

Solara Active Pharma Sciences advanced 2.08% after the company announced that its new multipurpose API manufacturing facility at Visakhapatnam (Vizag), Andhra Pradesh completed successfully the inspection carried out by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA or Agency) from 23rd to 26th January 2023. The agency, with its designated investigator, inspected the facility from 23rd to 26th January 2023. 

Five-Star Business Finance rose 0.27%. The NBFC reported 28% rise in net profit to Rs 151 crore on a 22% increase in total income to Rs 388.7 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22. During the quarter, the company has been assigned a rating of AA- by India Ratings.