Sensex at day's low, Nifty slips below 8,250; Infosys top loser

"The intraday supports for the Nifty index are placed around 8,250 and 8,227," said brokerage

The benchmark indices extended losses in the last afternoon trade as a slump in IT shares on worries over H-1B visas and negative trend seen in European markets affected sentiment.

The S&P BSE Sensex slipped below its crucial 27,000-mark, while Nifty50 went below 8,250 after testing its key resistance of 8,300 level in the morning trade. 

At 02:50 pm, the Sensex was trading at 26,806, down 71 points, and the Nifty was ruling at 8,255, down 18 points. 

The BSE Midcap also cut all its gains to slip in red terrain. The index had risen as much as 0.7% in intraday trade. BSE Smallcap was down 0.3%. 

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1,498 shares fell and 1,160 shares rose. A total of 156 shares remained unchanged.

"The intraday supports for the Nifty index are placed around 8,250 and 8,227; whereas intraday resistance is seen in the range of 8,300-8,325," said brokerage Angel Broking in a research note.

IT stocks were among the biggest losers as two US lawmakers reintroduced a bill to curb the use of H-1B visas, including requiring employers to pay more for workers under the system.

The Nifty IT index fell as much as 3.2% in its biggest per cent loss since November 9, led by losses in HCL Technologies and Mindtree which declined up to 4.5% each. TCS and Infosys were down 25 each.

But financials supported the index most with the NSE Bank index gaining as much as 1.16%. YES Bank, Canara Bank, PNB and Kotak Bank rose up to 3%.

Wockhardt surged over 7% to Rs 728 on the BSE after the drug firm said German regulator has issued European Union Good Manufacturing Practice (EU GMP) certificate to the company's Ankaleshwar facility in Gujarat.

Shares of jute & jute product companies such as Ludlow Jute & Specialities, Cheviot Company and Gloster rallied by up to 20% on the BSE after the government imposed anti-dumping duty on jute from Bangladesh and Nepal.

On the global front, investors awaited US Nonfarm Payroll data due later in the day. Among Asian markets, China's Shanghai Composite and Japan's Nikkei was down 0.3% each, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 0.15%.