The domestic equity benchmarks traded with steep cuts in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 19,950 mark. PSU bank shares witnessed profit booking after advancing in the past four trading sessions.

At 14:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 805.71 points or 1.19% to 66,791.13. The Nifty 50 index lost 231.90 points or 1.15% to 19,901.40.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.35% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.62%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,407 shares rose and 2,209 shares fell. A total of 152 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty PSU Bank index declined 1.33% to 5,147.80. The index jumped 10.11% in the past four trading sessions.

UCO Bank (down 5.91%), Central Bank of India (down 5.41%), Punjab & Sind Bank (down 5.08%), Indian Overseas Bank (down 5.06%), Bank of Maharashtra (down 4.57%), Bank of India (down 3.05%), Bank of Baroda (down 1.77%), Punjab National Bank (down 1.56%), Canara Bank (down 0.87%) and State Bank of India (down 0.45%) edged lower.

Numbers to track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper added 0.03% to 7.151 from previous close of 7.149.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.1725, compared with its close of 83.3200 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 October 2023 settlement declined 0.24% to Rs 59,139.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.10% to 105.09.

The United States 10-year bond yield fell 0.37% to 4.351

In the commodities market, Brent crude for November 2023 settlement slipped $1.48 or 1.57% to $92.86 a barrel.