Indian equity benchmarks deepened their losses in Thursday afternoon trading, with the Sensex falling 492.47 points or 0.63 per cent to 77,656.02 and the Nifty declining 157.85 points or 0.67 per cent to 23,531.10 at 12.59 p.m.. The market breadth remained negative with 2,295 stocks declining versus 1,510 advances on the BSE.

The selling pressure was particularly pronounced in banking and financial services stocks, with the Nifty Bank index dropping 450.90 points or 0.90 per cent to 49,384.15, while the Nifty Financial Services index fell 240.95 points or 1.04 per cent to 22,995.10. The broader markets also witnessed weakness, with the Nifty Next 50 declining 0.78 per cent and the Nifty Midcap Select falling 0.29 per cent.

Among individual stocks, ONGC led the losses on the NSE, falling 2.63 per cent, followed by Shriram Finance (-2.05 per cent), Coal India (-2.01 per cent), Larsen & Toubro (-2.00 per cent), and BPCL (-1.74 per cent). On the gaining side, Hindustan Unilever emerged as the top performer with a 2.02 per cent rise, followed by Nestle India (+1.81 per cent), Britannia (+1.73 per cent), Kotak Bank (+1.25 per cent), and Tata Consumer Products (+1.16 per cent).

The market’s weakness continued from the morning session, where selling by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), who offloaded ₹3,362 crore worth of equities, weighed on sentiment. Concerns over revised GDP growth projections of 6.4 per cent for FY25 and questions about gold import data accuracy continued to impact trader confidence.

Technical indicators showed 173 stocks hitting their upper circuit limits while 257 stocks touched their lower circuits. Additionally, 117 stocks reached their 52-week highs, while 72 stocks hit their 52-week lows during the session.

The trading pattern reflected broader concerns about global factors, including dollar strength and rising US bond yields. Market participants continued to monitor the Nifty’s key support level at 23,500, which analysts have identified as a crucial threshold for near-term market direction.

The price action in the first half of the trading session, with 3,938 stocks being traded on the BSE, indicated cautious sentiment among investors as they assessed domestic and global economic cues. Trading remained active across market segments, with volatility expected to persist through the afternoon session.