The domestic equity benchmarks traded with moderate losses in the mid-afternoon trade as investors remained cautious amid a lack of clear directional triggers. Sentiment was weighed by fluctuations in bond yields, gold and crude oil prices, along with ongoing developments in the US-Iran situation and other global market cues. The Nifty traded below the 24,150 mark.

Metal stocks retreated after advancing in the previous session

At 14:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 242.90 points or 0.32% to 77,226.77. The Nifty 50 index lost 61.35 points or 0.25% to 24,147.85.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index fell 0.13% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index added 0.11%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,793 shares rose and 2,413 shares fell. A total of 232 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index declined 0.90% to 13,420.15. The index rose 1.27% in the past trading session.

Steel Authority of India (down 3.27%), Hindustan Copper (down 3.03%), Hindalco Industries (down 2.76%), Vedanta (down 2.43%), Hindustan Zinc (down 2.36%), National Aluminium Company (down 2.33%), NMDC (down 2.11%), Lloyds Metals & Energy (down 1.74%), Jindal Stainless (down 1.16%) and JSW Steel (down 0.43%) delcined.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.41% to 6.879 compared with the previous session close of 6.851.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 95.5475 compared with its close of 95.4400 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for the 5 October 2026 settlement shed 0.37% to Rs 1,59,073.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.01% to 99.18.

The United States 10-year bond yield fell 0.17% to 4.656.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for the October 2026 settlement fell 43 cents or 0.49% to $87.41 a barrel.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Bajaj Finance shed 0.06%. The company said that it has raised Rs 5,000 crore through the private placement of 5 lakh secured, redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs), each with a face value of Rs 1 lakh.

Pine Labs rose 1.38% after a foreign brokerage initiated coverage on the fintech company with a 'Buy' rating. The brokerage highlighted Pine Labs' leadership in merchant payments and its high-margin value-added businesses. It also expects strong earnings growth.