New Delhi [India], March 13 (ANI): The domestic equity markets midday market stood in the red on Friday, extending the ongoing selling spree amid Brent Crude moving up to trading at USD 102 per barrel and geopolitical tensions in West Asia.The benchmark indices opened lower in mid-day trade, reflecting cautious investor sentiment. The Nifty 50 index stood at 23,150.50, declining by 488.65 points or (-2.07 per cent), while the BSE Sensex stood at 74,534.30, down by 1500.12 points or (-1.97 per cent), at 1:55 pm.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said, 'With the heightened uncertainty surrounding the West Asian conflict continuing, globally markets are weak and in unchartered territory. Weakness in the US markets indicate that rebound in the market is some time away. With Brent crude around $100, bulls are on the defensive. With the FIIs persisting with their sustained selling strategy, even largecap bluechips are under pressure.'

Nikkei 225, Japan market, stood at 53,774.00, down by 678.96 points (-1.26 per cent); Straits Times, Singapore market, stood at 4,838.07, down by 17.26 points (-0.36 per cent). Hang Seng, Hong Kong market was down to 25,441.00 by 275.76 points (-1.08 per cent), while Taiwan Weighted, Taiwan market stood at 33,400.32, down by 181.54 points (-0.54 per cent), and KOSPI, South Korea market stood at 5,487.24, down by 96.01 points (-1.75 per cent)

Vijayakumar highlighted the pharma sector as one that is standing its ground. 'One segment that is weathering the storm is pharmaceuticals. This sector is not impacted by external headwinds. In fact, rupee depreciation is a positive for the sector, which is a major exporter. It appears that portfolio churns are happening in favour of pharmaceuticals. There is nothing much investors can do in this challenging times other than remaining calm and continuing with systematic investment,' he said. (ANI)