BENGALURU: India’s benchmark Nifty 50 posted its worst session in nine months on Wednesday as investors booked profits, while small and mid-cap stocks tumbled too.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 fell 1.41% to 21,150.15, its worst performance since mid-March, while the S&P BSE Sensex shed 1.30% to 70,506.31.

Both indexes had risen 0.65% earlier in the session to all-time highs.

The more domestically focussed small- and mid-caps underperformed the benchmarks, dropping 3.63% and 3.27%, respectively. This was the worst session in three months for small-caps and 12 months for mid-caps.

“We are unlikely to see the margin of safety in small- and mid-caps in 2024 that we witnessed in 2023, as some pockets are overstretched after the recent rally,” said Sanjeev Hota, vice president and head of research at Sharekhan.

Despite the session’s decline, small- and mid-caps have risen 48.06% and 39.72% in 2023 so far, far outperforming the Nifty, which is up 16.82%.