The domestic equity benchmarks traded with deep cuts in mid-afternoon trade amid profit booking in select auto and banking heavyweights. Sentiment also remained weak due to FII selling and uncertainty amid geopolitical risks. The Nifty 50 index slipped below the 23,950 mark. Realty shares declined after advancing in the past trading session.
At 14:30 IST the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 1,086.49 points or 1.38% to 77,126.02. The Nifty 50 index fell 327.05 points or 1.34% to 23,935.65.
The broader market outperformed the key equity indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index dropped 0.59% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index rose 0.24%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,144 shares rose and 2,041 shares fell. A total of 184 shares were unchanged.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 9.19% to 20.64.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Realty index dropped 1.62% to 732.10. The index surged 1.55% in the past trading session.
Prestige Estates Projects (down 2.15%), Anant Raj (down 2.10%), Lodha Developers (down 2.08%), Phoenix Mills (down 1.86%), Godrej Properties (down 1.67%), DLF (down 1.63%), Oberoi Realty (down 1.06%) and Brigade Enterprises (down 0.01%) advanced.
Numbers to Track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper fell 0.12% to 6.663 compared with previous session close of 6.671.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 91.9850 compared with its close of 91.8500 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 2 April 2026 settlement fell 0.60% to Rs 1,62,330.
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.15% to 98.967
The United States 10-year bond yield gained 0.70% to 4.164.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2026 settlement jumped $1.41 or 1.61% to $89.21 a barrel.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Jindal Steel rose 0.25%. The company announced that it has been declared as preferred bidder for Thakurani-A1 Iron Ore Block by the Odisha government.
3i Infotech advanced 1.60% after the company said that secured a managed IT services contract worth Rs 5.66 crore from a prominent Indian engineering and industrial solutions company specializing in power and industrial equipment.