Indian equity markets deepened their losses during Wednesday afternoon trading, with the BSESensex falling 674.92 points or 0.86 per cent to 77,524.19 and the NSENifty declining 193.35 points or 0.82 per cent to 23,514.55, continuing the bearish sentiment from the morning session.

The broader market witnessed steeper declines, with the Nifty Midcap Select index dropping 283.70 points or 2.23 per cent to 12,455.65, while the Nifty Next 50 fell 982.40 points or 1.47 per cent to 65,956.50. Banking and financial stocks remained under pressure, with the Nifty Bank index down 675.45 points or 1.35 per cent to 49,526.70, and the Nifty Financial Services index declining 328.95 points or 1.40 per cent to 23,101.35.

Market breadth remained significantly negative, with 2,772 stocks declining against 1,061 advances on the BSE. Circuit filters were triggered for 425 stocks, with 258 hitting the lower circuit and 167 touching the upper circuit. Despite the overall weakness, 131 stocks reached their 52-week highs, while 87 touched their 52-week lows.

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Among individual stocks, ONGC emerged as the top gainer on the NSE, rising 2.11 per cent, followed by Dr. Reddy’s at 1.75 per cent, Reliance Industries at 1.60 per cent, BPCL at 0.85 per cent, and Maruti at 0.51 per cent. On the flip side, Shriram Finance led the losers with a 3.66 per cent decline, followed by Trent (-3.35 per cent), Titan (-3.05 per cent), Apollo Hospitals (-2.65 per cent), and Adani Ports (-2.65 per cent).

The market’s continued decline follows early morning losses triggered by strong US jobs data that dampened expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers with outflows of ₹1,491 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) provided some support with net purchases of ₹1,615 crore.

With key technical resistance for Nifty at 23,795 and global uncertainties reflected in oil prices hovering near $75 per barrel and gold steady at $2,650, market participants await the release of US Federal Reserve minutes and TCS’s third-quarter results for further direction.