Markets deepened their losses in afternoon trade on Monday, with the Sensex falling 311.08 points (0.37 per cent) to 83,747.82 and the Nifty declining 95.40 points (0.37 per cent) to 25,542.40 as of 12.45 pm on the final trading day of the first half of FY25.
The benchmark indices extended their morning weakness, with the Sensex opening at 84,027.33 against its previous close of 84,058.90, while the Nifty opened at 25,661.65 compared to its previous close of 25,637.80. The continued decline came despite the markets opening on a subdued note with initial losses of 244.11 points on the Sensex and 65 points on the Nifty at 9.50 am.
Market breadth showed mixed signals with 2,304 stocks advancing against 1,647 declining stocks out of 4,145 shares traded on the BSE. A total of 136 stocks hit their 52-week highs while 36 touched 52-week lows. The session saw 279 stocks in the upper circuit and 186 in the lower circuit, indicating varied investor sentiment across different segments.
Among the top gainers on the Nifty 50, State Bank of India led with a 1.61 per cent rise to 818.35, followed by Bharat Electronics Limited gaining 1.19 per cent to 419.45. HDFC Life Insurance advanced 1.13 per cent to 816.05, while Eternal Industries rose 1.07 per cent to 264.65 and Jio Financial Services climbed 0.96 per cent to 326.55.
On the losing side, Tata Consumer Products topped the list of decliners, falling 2.65 per cent to 1,094.50. Maruti Suzuki dropped 1.85 per cent to 12,408.00, while Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories declined 1.60 per cent to 1,280.20. Hero MotoCorp shed 1.55 per cent to 4,253.50 and Apollo Hospitals fell 1.41 per cent to 7,205.50.
Sectoral performance remained mixed, with the Nifty Next 50 showing resilience by gaining 114.35 points (0.17 per cent) to 68,826.75 and the Nifty Midcap 100 advancing 302.00 points (0.51 per cent) to 59,687.15. However, the Nifty Financial Services index declined 107.45 points (0.39 per cent) to 27,236.60, while the Nifty Bank index fell marginally by 36.85 points (0.06 per cent) to 57,407.05.
The afternoon session reflected continued caution among investors as markets approached the end of the first half of the financial year, with participants possibly engaging in portfolio adjustments and window-dressing activities ahead of the half-yearly closing.