New Delhi, June 1 -- The Indian equity benchmarks witnessed intense selling pressure in the final hour of trading on Friday, wiping out all early-morning gains and settling deep in the red. Nifty 50 slumped 1.50% (or 359.40 points) to finish at 23,547.75, swinging sharply from its intraday high of 24,002.80, while the BSE Sensex plummeted 1,092 points to close at 74,775.74.

The steep late-session sell-off was exacerbated by large-scale institutional volume churn and volatile outflows triggered by the scheduled MSCI index rebalancing adjustment. The broader market breadth turned distinctly bearish, with the advance-decline ratio closing heavily in favour of the bears at 1,145 stocks advancing, 2,171 stocks declining, while 106 stocks rema...