New Delhi, July 23 -- The bears tightened their grip on Dalal Street as the headline indices closed lower for the fourth consecutive session on Thursday, 23 July, slipping to one-week lows. Market sentiment remained fragile as hostilities in the Middle East continued to escalate, pushing crude oil prices back to multi-month highs.

Domestic factors also remained unfavourable, with sustained weakness in private sector banks and limited support from index heavyweights, causing the market to erase all of its recent gains.

After declining 0.79% in the previous session, the Nifty 50 extended its losses by another 0.53%, slipping below the 24,000 mark to close at 23,869. The S&P BSE Sensex also ended 0.45% lower at 76,408, following a nearly 1...