Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty were trading lower during afternoon session on Thursday amid boiling crude oil prices due to the worsening crisis in West Asia.

At 12:40 hours, the 30-share benchmark index was trading at 76365.75 down by -497.96 points or by -0.65 % and then NSE Nifty was at 23749.2 down by -117.65 points or by -0.49 %.

Sensex touched intraday high of 76576.49 and intraday low of 75871.18 The NSE Nifty touched intraday high of 23774 and intraday low of 23556.3

The top gainers of the BSE Sensex pack were NTPC Ltd. (Rs. 386.25,+1.64%), Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (Rs. 302.35,+1.19%), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (Rs. 1349.40,+1.16%), Reliance Industries Ltd. (Rs. 1406.00,+1.07%), HCL Technologies Ltd. (Rs. 1355.75,+0.42%), among others.

The top losers of the BSE Sensex pack were Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (Rs. 3051.00,-3.66%), Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (Rs. 13098.50,-2.99%), UltraTech Cement Ltd. (Rs. 11160.00,-2.59%), Trent Ltd. (Rs. 3540.00,-2.32%), InterGlobe Aviation Ltd. (Rs. 4262.15,-2.06%), among others.

Power index was at 7027.53 up by 143.01 points or by 2.08%. JSW Energy Ltd. (Rs. 526.85,+8.03%), Adani Power Ltd. (Rs. 146.55,+5.55%), Tata Power Company Ltd. (Rs. 403.60,+4.78%), Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (Rs. 267.80,+4.69%), Reliance Power Ltd. (Rs. 23.85,+4.33%),.

Auto index was at 55831.87 down by -1542.3 points or by -2.69%. TVS Motor Company Ltd. (Rs. 3426.00,-4.83%), Apollo Tyres Ltd. (Rs. 416.95,-4.04%), Ashok Leyland Ltd. (Rs. 177.60,-3.92%), Eicher Motors Ltd. (Rs. 6984.00,-3.69%), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (Rs. 3051.10,-3.65%),.

The Market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was weak. On BSE out of total shares traded 4334 , shares advanced were 1812 while 2304 shares declined and 218 were unchanged.