At 2:33 pm, the Sensex was down 104 points at 78,007, while the broader Nifty slipped below the crucial 24,200 mark. The 30-share benchmark was trading over 700 points below the day’s high.
In morning trade, the BSE Sensex had jumped 619 points to 78,730, while the NSE Nifty climbed 170 points to 24,401 before giving up all its gains.
ONGC, Apollo Hospitals, HDFC Bank, HDFC Life, Titan, and M&M were among the top Nifty laggards, falling 1-2% each.
On the other hand, Trent, Hindalco, Adani Ports, and Eternal were among the top heavyweight gainers.
Sectorally, Nifty Auto and Nifty Oil & Gas declined over 0.6% each to emerge as the top laggards. Bucking the trend, Nifty Metal was up more than 1%, holding on to most of its morning gains. Around 1,246 stocks declined on the NSE, while 1,940 advanced and 94 remained unchanged.
Thursday marks the weekly expiry of Sensex F&O contracts, which typically leads to heightened market volatility. Profit booking may also have contributed to the sharp decline on Dalal Street, following the strong rebound in benchmark indices so far in April after the relentless selloff in March.
More to come…