Indian equity markets continued to trade lower on Monday afternoon amid cautious investor sentiment and lack of fresh domestic triggers. At 14:13 pm, the BSE Sensex was down 518.29 points, or 0.62 per cent, at 83,540.61, while the NSE Nifty50 slipped 147.60 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 25,490.20.

Heavyweights including M&M, Hero MotoCorp, SBI Life, Tata Consumer Products, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Apollo Hospitals, and Bajaj Auto were among the top drags on the benchmark indices.

The Nifty PSU Bank index emerged as the top sectoral gainer, climbing 2.49 per cent. Bank of Maharashtra jumped nearly 5 per cent to trade at Rs 56.86, followed by gains in Union Bank of India, Bandhan Bank, and Indian Bank, which rose between 2 to 3 per cent.

The Nifty Realty index was the worst performer among sectors, shedding 0.54 per cent amid weak investor appetite for real estate counters.

Despite weakness in blue-chip stocks, broader indices outperformed. The Nifty MidCap 100 rose 0.45 per cent and the Nifty SmallCap 100 advanced 0.55 per cent, extending their rally for the seventh consecutive session.

Stocks like Waaree Energies rose nearly 4 per cent to Rs 305, while Federal Bank, Aurobindo Pharma, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, and Muthoot Finance gained over 1.5 per cent.

Among smallcap stocks, Karur Vysya Bank surged nearly 4 per cent to top the index, followed by Hindustan Copper, Natco Pharma, IDBI Bank, Zen Technologies, and Kaynes Technology, which gained around 2 to 3 per cent. Other notable movers included Laurus Labs, Data Patterns, Angel One, ITI, and Reliance Power.

Torrent Pharma Acquires JB Chemicals; Stock Drops 7 Per Cent

Shares of JB Chemicals tanked as much as 7 per cent to Rs 1,673 after Torrent Pharmaceuticals announced it had acquired a controlling stake from global private equity firm KKR at a valuation of Rs 25,689 crore on a fully diluted basis. While the shares of Torrent Pharma saw a surge of 1.46 per cent.  This marks the second-largest deal in India's pharmaceutical sector, trailing only Sun Pharma’s 2015 acquisition of Ranbaxy.

The India VIX, which measures market volatility, climbed 2.38 per cent, pointing to heightened investor caution amid global market uncertainty.

With no major domestic developments on the radar, Indian markets are expected to take cues from global economic indicators and geopolitical developments. Broader market resilience, however, suggests underlying strength in select pockets beyond the benchmark indices.