Indian stock market benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty 50, faced significant losses on January 3 due to profit booking and a strengthening US dollar. The Sensex dropped over 700 points, while the Nifty 50 fell 200 points amid selling pressure across several sectors.

Indian equities extended their winning streak for the second consecutive session on Thursday (January 2), with the Sensex closing 1,436 points higher at 79,944 and the Nifty advancing by 446 points to 24,

Sensex and Nifty50 were trading in the red on Friday afternoon, tracking weakness in global markets. By 2 PM, the BSE Sensex had dropped 593 points, or 0.74%, to 79,350.39. Meanwhile, the Nifty50 slipped 141.

Sensex’s average gains in odd years stand at a robust 26.56%, more than double the modest 11.20% average gains in even years. Similarly, the median Sensex return in odd years is 18.74%, significantly higher than the 8.

The maximum return by Sensex in any odd year stood at 93.98 per cent against 50.68 per cent in the even year. The maximum fall for Sensex stood at 24.64 per cent in the odd year against 52.45 per cent in the even year.

The bears took control of Dalal Street on Friday, pushing Nifty close to the critical 24,000 level after strong gains in the first two sessions of the new year. The decline was driven by selling pressure in IT,

Falling IT, pharma, healthcare, and bank stocks caused the stock market to crash during the later trading hours

The trends on Gift Nifty also indicate a gap-down start for the Indian benchmark index. The Gift Nifty was trading around 24,190 level, a discount of nearly 92 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close.

The BSE Sensex and Nifty50, India's key equity indices, opened flat on Friday. The Sensex was around 79,900, while the Nifty50 hovered near 24,200. At around 10 am, the Sensex dropped 487.97 points, or 0.

The stock market opened in the red on Friday in a huge contrast to the significant gains it made around the closing time of the previous session.