After opening the day marginally lower, Indian share markets witnessed further selling pressure and ended their session on a negative note. Losses were largely seen in the telecom sector, auto sector and healthcare sector, while consumer durable stocks ended the day higher.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 188 points (down 0.5%) and the NSE Nifty closed lower by 61 points (down 0.6%). The BSE Mid Cap index ended the day down by 0.4%, while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day down by 0.3%.

Asian stock markets finished on a negative note as of the most recent closing prices. The Hang Seng was down 1.3% and the Nikkei stood lower by 0.2%.

The rupee was trading at 66.88 to the US$ at the time of writing.

In the news from banking space, as per an article in the Economic Times, bank deposit growth fell to a five-decade low in FY18.

As per the data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), aggregate deposits in the banking system grew a mere 6.7% in 2017-18. This was the lowest since fiscal 1963.

The above fall in growth was seen on the back of reversal from the huge deposits collected during the demonetization exercise together with the steady movement of savings away from bank deposits.

From the telecom space, Bharti Airtel share price was in focus today. The stock of the company witnessed buying interest on a report that the firm may raise as much as US$ 1.5 billion through stake dilution when it lists the holding company for Africa operations in early 2019.

From the energy sector, ONGC share price was also in focus today, after the state-run oil major drilled record number of oil wells in the financial year gone by.As per the news, the money will help bolster the telecom company's efforts to stay competitive in the Indian market where Bharti just announced its first quarterly loss.