Mumbai, May 9 -- The headline equity benchmarks witnessed sharp declines in early trade as escalating tensions between India and Pakistan-intensified by the ongoing Operation Sindoor-kept investors on edge. Market sentiment is likely to remain volatile in the near term, driven by uncertainty surrounding geopolitical developments and upcoming U.S. trade policy updates. The Nifty traded below the 24,100 level.

Barring the Nifty consumer durables index, all the other sectoral indices on the NSE traded in red.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex slipped 547.77 points or 0.68% to 79,787.04. The Nifty 50 index declined 186.60 points or 0.77% to 24,087.20

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.70% and the S&...