On the heels of negative cues from other Asian markets, Indian equity benchmarks were engulfed by bears in the late morning session, with both the Sensex and the Nifty trading in the red. Traders were wary since the World Bank warned that the adoption of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) might jeopardise privacy, expand the central bank’s obligations, and lead to currency replacement through cross-border transactions.

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Asian markets were trading mostly in the red with Nikkei 225 slipping 330.32 points or 1.22% to 26,762.87, Taiwan Weighted dropping 70.27 points or 0.41% to 16,933.91, Shanghai Composite declined 24.89 points or 0.78% to 3,186.35 and Straits Times trembled 23.16 points or 0.69% to 3,312.69. On the flip side, KOSPI rose 4.48 points or 0.17% to 2,700.54, Jakarta Composite soared 28.43 points or 0.39% to 7,263.96.

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Sensex is presently trading at 57,140.33, down 1198.60 points or 2.05% from a low of 57,047.00 and a high of 57,420.80. On the index, there were 6 stocks that rose and 24 stocks that fell.

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The broader indices were trading in red with the BSE Midcap index being down by 1.25%, while the Small cap index was down by 0.99%. The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.25% and FMCG up by 0.25%, while IT was down by 4.58%, TECK down by 4.50%, Telecom down by 1.74%, Bankex down by 1.69% and Realty down by 1.40% were the top losing indices on BSE.

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The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 4.16%, Tata Steel up by 1.88%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.90%, Nestle up by 0.74% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.63%. On the flip side, Infosys is down by 7.08%, Tech Mahindra is down by 5.30%, HDFC is down by 3.89%, HDFC Bank is down by 3.76% and Wipro is down by 3.58% were the top losers.

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Nifty is presently trading at 17,159.30, down 316.35 points or 1.81% from a low of 17,129.55 and a high of 17,237.75. On the index, there were 13 stocks that rose and 37 stocks that fell.

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The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 4.09%, SBI Life Insurance up by 2.62%, Tata Steel up by 1.90%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.81% and ONGC up by 1.29%. On the flip side, Infosys is down by 7.10%, Tech Mahindra is down by 5.34%, Apollo Hospital Ent. is down by 4.04%, HDFC is down by 3.87% and HDFC Bank is down by 3.74% were the top losers.