The key equity benchmarks traded with modest cuts in early afternoon trade as further escalations in the war between Iran and Israel-US, persistent FII selling, and other factors weighed. The Nifty traded below the 23,300 level. Consumer durable shares extended losses for the third consecutive session.
At 12:35 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 1,061.41 points or 1.40% to 74,973.01. The Nifty 50 index fell 349.65 points or 1.48% to 23,278.45.
The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index tumbled 2.25% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index fell 2.33%.
Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 972 shares rose and 3,018 shares fell. A total of 187 shares were unchanged.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rallied 2.69% to 22.09. The Nifty 30 March 2026 futures were trading at 23,342.40, at a premium of 63.95 points as compared with the spot at 23,278.45.
The Nifty option chain for the 30 March 2026 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 37.5 lakh contracts at the 24,500 strike price. Maximum put OI of 51.9 lakh contracts was seen at the 23,000 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Consumer Durables index fell 2.31% to 35,204.75. The index rose 3.4% in the three consecutive trading sessions.
Blue Star (down 4.93%), Amber Enterprises India (down 4.53%), PG Electroplast (down 3.8%), Dixon Technologies (India) (down 3.55%), Whirlpool of India (down 3.28%), Voltas (down 3.14%), Havells India (down 2.91%), Kajaria Ceramics (down 2.88%), Cera Sanitaryware (down 2.77%) and Century Plyboards (India) (down 2.58%) declined.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Balaji Amines declined 2.95% after the company announced that the supply of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), a key input used for the production of ammonia, has been adversely affected due to the ongoing war in the Middle East.
Ramky Infrastructure soared 2.54% after it secured a design, build, finance, operate, and transfer (DBFOT) contract from the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).