Indian Equity Markets Decline Amid Sectoral Weakness; Crypto Assets Remain Unmentioned

Indian benchmark indices extended losses during Friday's mid-session trading, with the Sensex dropping 334 points (0.41%) to 80,851 and Nifty shedding 125 points (0.51%) to 24,643. The selloff showed particular severity in pharmaceutical stocks, where the sectoral index plunged 3% as SUN Pharma, Dr. Reddy's and Cipla led declines.

Market breadth turned decisively negative with 1,720 decliners overwhelming 1,091 advancing stocks on the NSE. Only FMCG and media sectors resisted the downward trend, while healthcare, IT, oil & gas and metal stocks joined pharma in the 1-3% loss territory. Smallcaps continued their valuation-driven correction with a 0.74% drop.

The session saw 49 stocks including ABDL and Bosch touch 52-week highs, while TCS and Ease My Trip numbered among 33 scrips hitting annual lows. Circuit filters were triggered for 71 gainers like Zen Tech and 42 losers including V2 Retail.