Indian equity benchmarks extended their morning losses in Monday’s afternoon trade, with the Sensex plunging over 1,200 points as concerns over global events and foreign fund outflows continued to weigh on investor sentiment.
The BSE Sensex traded at 78,480.93, down 1,243.19 points or 1.56 per cent from its previous close at 12.30 PM. The NSENifty declined 424.25 points or 1.75 per cent to 23,880.10.
Market breadth remained significantly negative, with 2,857 stocks declining compared to 1,100 advances on the BSE. A total of 4,082 stocks were traded, with 125 remaining unchanged. The market witnessed 172 stocks hitting 52-week highs, while 30 touched their 52-week lows.
The broader market indicators also reflected the downward trend. The Nifty Next 50 fell 1.81 per cent to 69,127.10, while the Nifty Midcap Select declined 0.94 per cent to 12,286.05. Key sectoral indices like Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services dropped 1.12 per cent and 1.33 per cent respectively.
Among the Nifty constituents, Tech Mahindra led the gainers, rising 1.42 per cent, followed by Cipla at 1.36 per cent, Mahindra & Mahindra at 1.21 per cent, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories at 0.31 per cent, and HCL Technologies at 0.23 per cent.
On the losing side, Hero MotoCorp emerged as the top laggard, falling 5.85 per cent. Other major decliners included Bajaj Auto (-5.07 per cent), BPCL (-4.27 per cent), Grasim Industries (-3.96 per cent), and ONGC (-3.72 per cent).
The market volatility was reflected in circuit breakers, with 328 stocks hitting the upper circuit and 244 touching the lower circuit limits.
The decline came amid continued selling pressure following significant foreign institutional investor (FII) outflows in October, which totaled ₹1.14 lakh crore. Market participants remained cautious ahead of the U.S. presidential election and the Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy meeting.
The day’s trading pattern showed a decisive shift from the morning session, when the indices had opened relatively stable with the Sensex at 79,713.14 and Nifty at 24,315.75, compared to their previous closes of 79,724.12 and 24,304.35 respectively.
