Mumbai, Oct 22 (Inditop.com) A key Indian equity index moved further into the red an hour before closing bell Thursday and was ruling 1.06 percent lower than its previous close owing to widespread selling pressure.

At 2.21 p.m., the sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened higher at 17,031.54 points, was ruling below the 17,000-mark at 16,809.36 points — 199.81 points or 1.17 percent down from Wednesday’s close at 17,009.17 points.

Around the same time, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), too, was trading in the red at 4,991.85 points, down 1.42 percent.

Broader market indices crumbled under the selling pressure as well, with the BSE midcap index ruling 1.76 percent lower and the BSE smallcap index down 1.34 percent.