Indian equity benchmarks were under pressure in the late morning session, with both the Sensex and the Nifty trading in the red. The domestic mood was influenced by negative indications from other Asian markets.

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On the global front, all Asian markets were trading in red with Nikkei 225 slipped 604.48 points or 2.12% to 27,941.20, Straits Times fell 31.93 points or 1.03% to 3,079.70, Hang Seng lost 334.13 points or 1.44% to 22,858.50, Taiwan Weighted declined 119.96 points or 0.67% to 17,692.63, KOSPI plunged 46.06 points or 1.53% to 2,971.67, Jakarta Composite dropped 38.22 points or 0.58% to 6,563.71 and Shanghai Composite was down by 27.15 points or 0.75% to 3,605.21.

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The BSE Sensex is now trading at 55562.26, down 1449.48 points or 2.54% after ranging between 55556.23 and 56538.15. On the index, there were two equities that advanced and 28 stocks that declined.

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The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 3.57%, while the Small cap index was down by 3.39%.

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The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 4.95%, Industrials down by 3.59%, Bankex down by 3.56%, Capital Goods down by 3.54%, and Metal down by 3.44%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE.

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The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 0.37% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.21%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance is down by 5.27%, Indusind Bank is down by 4.38%, Bajaj Finserv is down by 4.34%, Axis Bank is down by 4.09%, and Tata Steel down by 3.94% were the top losers.

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The Nifty is presently trading at 16548.30, down 436.90 points or 2.57% from a high of 16840.10 and a low of 16544.15. On the index, there were three stocks that advanced and 47 that declined.

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The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 2.41%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.22%, and Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 0.19%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 5.28%, Hero MotoCorp down by 4.79%, Tata Motors down by 4.42%, Indusind Bank down by 4.35%, and Bajaj Finserv down by 4.35% were the top losers.