Domestic stocks declined for second day in a row led by weak global cues. Global stocks dropped after a revenue guidance cut from Apple added to fears of a slowdown in global economic growth. The Nifty slipped below 10,700 mark.

The Sensex fell 377.81 points or 1.05% to settle at 35,513.71, its lowest closing level since 24 December 2018. The index rose 108.14 points, or 0.30% at the day's high of 35,999.66. The index fell 415.95 points, or 1.16% at the day's low of 35,475.57.

The Nifty 50 index fell 120.25 points or 1.11% to settle at 10,672.25, its lowest closing level since 24 December 2018. The index rose 21.55 points, or 0.20% at the day's high of 10,814.05. The index fell 131.25 points, or 1.22% at the day's low of 10,661.25.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.03%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.58%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 957 shares rose and 1619 shares fell. A total of 150 shares were unchanged.

Among the sectoral indices on BSE, the S&P BSE Metal index (down 2.35%), the S&P BSE Oil & Gas index (down 1.75%) and the S&P BSE Basic Materials index (down 1.66%), underperformed the Sensex. The S&P BSE Telecom index (up 0.57%), the S&P BSE FMCG index (up 0.07%) and the S&P BSE Realty index (down 0.04%), outperformed the Sensex.

Mahindra & Mahindra (down 3.04%), ONGC (down 2.98%), Tata Steel (down 2.59%), HDFC (down 2.18%), NTPC (down 2.18%) and Axis Bank (down 1.77%), were the major Sensex losers.

Bajaj Auto (up 0.41%), Asian Paints (up 0.32%), Hindustan Unilever (up 0.19%), Bharti Airtel (up 0.11%) and Wipro (up 0.09%), were the major Sensex gainers.

Shares of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank dropped while Bank of Baroda ended flat after the Union Cabinet approved the amalgamation of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with Bank of Baroda.

Bank of Baroda ended flat at Rs 119.40. Vijaya Bank fell 6.76%. Dena Bank fell 19.78%

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the scheme of amalgamation for amalgamating Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank, with Bank of Baroda as the transferee bank and Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank as transferor banks. The amalgamation will be the first-ever three-way consolidation of banks in India, with the amalgamated bank being India's second largest public sector bank. The scheme shall come into force on 1 April 2019.

For every 1,000 shares of Dena Bank worth Rs 10 each, Bank of Baroda will issue 110 shares of Rs 2 each. Vijaya Bank's shareholders will get Bank of Baroda's 402 shares of Rs 2 each for every 1,000 shares of Rs 10.

The amalgamation will help create a strong globally competitive bank with economies of scale and enable realisation of wide-ranging synergies. Leveraging of networks, low-cost deposits and subsidiaries of the three banks has the potential of yielding significant synergies for positioning the consolidated entity for substantial rise in customer base, market reach, operational efficiency, wider bouquet of products and services, and improved access for customers.

Vedanta fell 2.64%. According to reports, the Supreme Court on Thursday, 3 January 2019, agreed to hear on 8 January 2019 Tamil Nadu government's appeal against the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order to reopen Vedanta's Sterlite copper plant at Tuticorin. A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice S K Kaul said the case will be heard next week, reports added.

The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday, 2 January 2019, moved to the Supreme Court challenging NGT's order to reopen Vedanta's Sterlite copper plant in Thoothukudi. In its petition, the state government argued that the tribunal has no jurisdiction to hear the matter.

Index heavyweight and engineering & construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) fell 2.27%. The construction arm of L&T Construction has won orders worth Rs 1060 crore. The announcement was made during market hours today, 3 January 2019.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) lost 1.36%. TCS announced that Emirates NBD, the Middle East's leading financial services group, has chosen TCS BaNCS for Payments as its core processing platform to standardize and streamline payments operations across multiple geographies, including India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, UK and their home market, the United Arab Emirates. The announcement was made during market hours today, 3 January 2019.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 70.225, compared with its close of 70.18 during the previous trading session.

In the global commodities markets, Brent for March 2019 settlement was down 16 cents at $54.75 a barrel. The contract jumped $1.11 a barrel or 2.06% to settle at $54.91 a barrel during the previous trading session.

Overseas, European and Asian stocks fell while Dow futures dropped after a revenue guidance cut from Apple added to fears of a slowdown in global economic growth. Apple lowered its first-quarter revenue guidance to $84 billion, down from the $89 billion to $93 billion that had previously been forecast. Apple blamed a number of factors for the climbdown in guidance, including weakness in China's economy and disappointing iPhone revenue.

Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow Jones Industrial Average could slide 351 points at the opening bell today, 3 January 2019. US stocks closed the first session of the year on a positive note after volatile trading Wednesday, as crude oil prices rebounded.

Market participants are watching a partial US government shutdown that is nearing its second week as President Donald Trump prepares to meet with top lawmakers to discuss reopening the government by resolving a dispute over funding for the expansion of the US-Mexico border wall.

On the data front, a survey of American manufacturers showed the slowest growth in December in 15 months. IHS Markit said its manufacturing PMI slipped to 53.8 in December from an initial reading of 53.9, and it was down from 55.3 in the prior month.