New Delhi: Benchmark stock market indices ended marginally lower on Thursday, triggered by a slide in pharmaceutical and information technology stocks.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended 5.43 per cent lower at 66,017.81

The S&P BSE Sensex ended 5.43 per cent lower at 66,017.81, while the NSE Nifty 50 settled 9.85 points lower at 19,802. Broader market indices performed better than the benchmarks, with Nifty Smallcaps ended significantly higher.

While high-weightage sectoral indices such as Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services gained during the session, Nifty Pharma and Nifty IT indices fell sharply.

The top five gainers on the Nifty 50 were Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj-Auto, BPCL, IndusInd Bank and Eicher Motors. On the other hand, the top five losers were Cipla, Ultratech Cement, SBI Life, LTIM and L&T.

Cipla shares fell 8 per cent during the trading session after details of a November 18 warning letter from the USFDA were disclosed in a news article. However, the company said in a clarification that the “news article covers the same event and there is no new development requiring additional disclosure by the company”.

It also added that there is no material risk to its existing commercial product portfolio.