The key equity barometers traded with losses in morning trades. Nifty moved in a range of 23896-23787. Nifty Auto, Nifty Realty and Nifty Consumer Durables shares declined.

NIFTY slipped by 0.95% in last session and posted steep losses of 2.90% over last one-week.

At 12:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 644.66 points or 0.84% to 76,299.62. The Nifty 50 index shed 244.05 points or 1.01% to 23,811.75.

The broader market outpaced the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index retreated 1.08% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index declined 0.85%.

The market breadth was fragile. On the BSE, 1668 shares rose and 3170 shares fell. A total of 217 shares were unchanged.

Nifty Auto index posted steep losses of 3.31%. The index has posted modest losses of 2.32% in last one month and advanced 11.03% over last one year. Hero Motocorp, moving down 5.99%, led the losers followed by Eicher Motors, moving lower 5.55% and Sona BLW Precis., slipping 3.48%, respectively. All 15 index constituents are reporting losses today.

Nifty Realty index retreated 1.91%. The index has edged lower 2.38% in last one month and posted modest gains of 1.31% over last one year. Godrej Propert., easing 3.48%, led the losers followed by Brigade Enterpr., edging lower 2.59% and DLF, losing 2.13%, respectively. All 10 index constituents are reporting losses today.

Nifty Consumer Durables index fell 1.64%. The index has drifted lower by 1.87% in last one month and added 1.20% over last one year. Voltas, down 3.88%, led the losers followed by Havells India, slipping 3.84% and Blue Star, down 2.90%, respectively. Out of 13 index constituents, 11 are reporting loss today.

Asian markets posted steep losses on Wednesday. China’s Shanghai composite is trading lower by 0.89%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is marginally lower by 0.36%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is substantially lower by 2.85%.

In Europe, German DAX inched higher 0.19%, UK’s FTSE 100 posted modest losses of 0.32% and French CAC drifted lower 0.39%.

In Commodities, MCX Crude oil inched up 0.74% to trade at Rs 8,533 per barrel.