Sensex, Nifty declined in afternoon trade

The Sensex and the Nifty today declined around half a percent in the afternoon trade.

The index of top 30 companies at the Bombay Stock Exchange, Sensex, was trading below the 60,500 mark while Nifty, the index of top 50 companies at National Stock Exchange, was trading below 17,800 level.

Both stocks fell amid negative global cues. The Sensex plunged 257 points, or 0.42 percent, to trade at 60,425. The Nifty-50 also fell 89 points, or 0.5 percent, to trade at 17,768, when reports last came in.