Mumbai, May 5 -- Headline equity benchmarks traded with sharp losses in morning trade, with the Nifty slipping below the 24,000 mark. Sentiment was hit as the rupee weakened to a record low of 95.40 against the US dollar, while weekly expiry added to market volatility. Escalating Iran-US tensions further dampened investor confidence, erasing recent optimism after state election results. Realty stocks also declined after gains in the previous session.

At 10:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex fell 506.27 points or 0.66% to 76,763.13. The Nifty 50 index slipped 157.40 points or 0.64% to 23,961.15.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index shed 0.21% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index declined 0.19%.

The market breadth was n...