The domestic equity benchmarks traded with deep cuts in the mid-afternoon trade dragged down by heavy selling in IT counters. Investor sentiment was dented after Trump has threatened foreign nations that if they side with the US Supreme Court's judgment, they may face higher tariffs on goods imported into the US, while the expiry of monthly F&O contracts on the NSE added to the volatility in the market.
Nifty traded below 25,450 mark. Auto shares declined after advancing in the past two consecutive trading sessions.
At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 1096.28 points or 1.32% to 82,197.91. The Nifty 50 index tanked 298.58 points or 1.15% to 25,414.65.
In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index fell 0.81% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index dropped 1.06%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,165 shares rose and 2,940 shares fell. A total of 187 shares were unchanged.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rallied 2.99% to 14.59.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Auto index fell 0.75% to 27,867.55. The index rose 1.23% in the past two consecutive trading session.
Uno Minda (down 1.81%), Eicher Motors (down 1.37%), Sona BLW Precision Forgings (down 1.31%), Bajaj Auto (down 1.17%), Exide Industries (down 1.15%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.01%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 0.86%), Bosch (down 0.79%), Ashok Leyland (down 0.77%) and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (down 0.71%) declined.
On the other hand, Bharat Forge (up 0.44%), Samvardhana Motherson International (up 0.33%) and Hero MotoCorp (up 0.21%) edged higher.
Numbers to Track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper slipped 0.24% to 6.683 compared with the previous session close of 6.699.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 90.9625 compared with its close of 90.8950 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 2 April 2026 settlement slipped 0.56% to Rs 160,696.
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.13% to 97.77.
The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.35% to 4.040.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2026 settlement gained 11 cents or 0.15% to $71.60 a barrel.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Caplin Point Laboratories slipped 1.40%. The company announced that its subsidiary, Caplin Steriles, has received final approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Sodium Phosphates Injection USP.
KEC International added 0.60%. The company announced that it has secured new orders worth Rs 1,002 crore across its Transmission & Distribution (T&D) and Cables & Conductors businesses.