Stock staged a mild recovery in early afternoon trade after an intraday slide. At 12:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 273.08 points or 0.76% at 35,752.46. The Nifty 50 index was down 92.75 points or 0.86% at 10,687.80. Stocks from metal & mining and pharma sectors declined.

The Sensex was trading below the psychological 36,000 mark after sliding below that level in early trade. Volatility struck bourses in early trade as the key benchmark indices sink in the red after opening in the positive zone. Key indices extended fall in morning trade. Fresh selling in index pivotals pulled the key benchmark indices to intraday low in mid-morning trade.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 1.57%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 1.87%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 473 shares rose and 1836 shares fell. A total of 118 shares were unchanged.

Metal and mining stocks declined. Vedanta (down 1.9%), JSW Steel (down 3.29%), Tata Steel (down 1.56%), Steel Authority of India (Sail) (down 2.22%), National Aluminium Company (down 1.23%), Hindustan Zinc (down 1.06%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 3.57%), Hindalco Industries (down 2.52%) and Hindustan Copper (down 1.95%) edged lower. NMDC (up 0.66%) rose.

Pharma shares fell. Cadila Healthcare (down 1.66%), Cipla (down 2.72%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 0.9%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 1.82%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 2.21%), Alkem Laboratories (down 1.58%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (down 3.22%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 2.71%) and Wockhardt (down 1.39%) declined.

Lupin rose 0.54%. Lupin announced on Saturday, 26 January 2019, the completion of the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) inspection carried out at the company's Pithampur Unit -2 (Indore) facility. The inspection was carried out between January 14 and January 25, 2019. The inspection at Pithampur Unit-2 (Indore) closed with 6 observations. The company is confident of addressing the observations satisfactorily.

Overseas, most Asian stocks were trading lower after intraday gains as caution over looming trade talks between Washington and Beijing displaced relief over the end of the partial US government shutdown.

China's industrial profit dropped for the second straight month in December. Profits of big Industrial companies fell 1.9% on year to 680.83 billion yuan ($100.94 billion) in December, said the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. In November, industrial profits declined 1.8% from a year earlier.

US stocks gained ground on Friday in a broad-based rally as investors were heartened by news that Washington would move to temporarily end the longest US government shutdown in history.

US President Donald Trump and congressional leaders had reached a deal to reopen the federal government for three weeks while talks continue over Trump's demands for money to build a wall along the US border with Mexico. Trump announced the agreement to break the 35-day impasse as delays at airports and widespread disruptions heightened the urgency to end the partial shutdown.