New Delhi, Jan. 23 -- A day after ending with decent gains of about half a per cent, Indian stock market benchmarks resumed their downward march on Friday, January 23, on profit booking amid persisting geopolitical uncertainties, caution ahead of the Union Budget 2026, and mixed Q3 earnings.

The Sensex crashed 770 points, or 0.94%, to close at 81,537.70, while the Nifty 50 dropped 241 points, or 0.95%, to settle at 25,048.65.

The sell-off was broad-based and even more intense in the mid and small-cap segments, as the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices dropped by 1.6% and 2.2%, respectively.

Investors lost over Rs.6 lakh crore in a single session as the overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms dropped to below Rs.452 lakh crore fr...