Mumbai, Aug 18: The benchmark indices extended their losses on Tuesday, with the Sensex and Nifty coming under pressure amid heightened geopolitical tensions and weakness in key sectors.

The Sensex fell 493 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 77,235.46, while the Nifty declined 132.75 points, or 0.55 per cent, to 24,154.90.

Commenting on technical outlook, the 24,300 zone is likely to act as the immediate resistance.

“A sustained move above 24,300 could help stabilise the structure and support a recovery towards the 24,400–24,500 region. However, failure to reclaim this level could keep recovery attempts vulnerable to selling pressure,” an analyst stated.

“On the downside, 24,150 remains the immediate support level. A decisive break below 24,150 could intensify selling pressure and drag the index towards the 24,000 psychological mark,” as per the market expert.

Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Asian Paints and Infosys emerged as the top losers among Nifty constituents. The broader market also remained under pressure, with the Nifty MidCap index declining 0.43 per cent, while the Nifty SmallCap index ended flat.

Sectorally, Nifty IT, Nifty Realty and Nifty PSU Bank were among the biggest drags on the benchmark indices. In contrast, the Nifty Auto index emerged as the top-performing sector during the session.

Experts said that the market sentiment remained cautious as investors assessed the impact of ongoing geopolitical tensions, with selling pressure in IT, realty and PSU banking stocks weighing on the overall market.

“Although domestic fundamentals continue to be supportive, sustained high crude prices and rising input costs could pressure recent earnings upgrades, prompting investors to remain cautious in the near term,” as per the market expert.

Meanwhile, Rupee traded largely flat near 95.67, but the broader weakness continues as the currency faces hurdles in sustaining strength.

“The rupee is expected to trade in the 95.25–95.85 range in the near term,” a market expert noted.

New Delhi, Aug 18: Israel expects two more rounds of negotiations with India on the proposed free trade agreement, with the two sides likely to have greater clarity on the pact by February 2027, Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar said.

In an interaction with media, Azar said the second round of negotiations was held last month, following an agreement on the terms of reference reached at the end of last year.

“We expect to have two more rounds, one in October and probably the last one by February and I think that by then we will know exactly where we stand,” he said.

Asked about the potential benefits of the FTA for both countries, Azar said discussions have so far focused on traditional market access issues, but the negotiations also cover areas such as reciprocal buybacks and cooperation.

He said bridging the gap in market access could be challenging because Israel has already lowered its tariffs and the two markets differ considerably in size.

However, the Israeli envoy identified high-tech cooperation as an area with significant potential for expanding bilateral economic ties.

“The greatest potential, I think, lies in high-tech cooperation,” he told media.

Azar further noted that greater innovation cooperation between the two countries could encourage Israeli companies to operate more freely in the Indian market.

The envoy’s comments come amid efforts by India and Israel to deepen their economic and technology partnership.

Earlier in May, Azar highlighted six core values underpinning the bilateral relationship — civilisational resilience, the fight against terrorism, democratic values, innovation & competitiveness, religious tolerance, and inclusive development.

India and Israel share a special and unique relationship and stressed the need to translate their common values into greater cooperation and investment, according to his video shared on X.

Seoul: Youth employment has fallen sharply in sectors highly exposed to artificial intelligence (AI) technology since the emergence of generative AI chatbots, a central bank report showed on Tuesday.

Over the four-year period from June 2022 to June 2026, the number of jobs held by people aged 15 to 29 fell by 285,000, according to the report published by the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Of the total decline, 268,000 jobs, or 94 percent, were in sectors highly exposed to AI, such as information technology (IT) services, publishing, computer programming and professional services, reports Yonhap news agency.

In contrast, the number of jobs held by people in their 50s rose by 230,000 over the same period, with 173,000 of the increase coming from AI-exposed sectors.

The report set 2022 as the starting point for the study, as ChatGPT was launched late that year.

By sector, youth employment fell 31.4 percent over the cited period in IT services, while it declined 27.4 percent in publishing, which includes software and web design professionals.

Youth employment decreased 16.6 percent in computer programming and 11.6 percent in professional services.

Unemployment rates by educational background also showed young people’s vulnerability to AI technology, the BOK report showed.

From 2019 to 2022, the average unemployment rate among young people with undergraduate or graduate degrees was 8.2 percent, compared with 8 percent for those who graduated from secondary school or junior college.

After 2022, the rates fell to 7 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively, widening the gap to 1.6 percentage points.

The BOK said the country’s continued population decline may have contributed significantly to changes in youth employment over the period, while the advent of AI may have accelerated the trend.

“AI can increase the productivity of young people to a large extent. This also means they can be replaced by AI,” said Oh Sam-il, a researcher at the BOK’s research department. “However, we cannot say that AI is entirely behind the reduction in youth employment. Instead, AI is accelerating the trend of the diminishing career ladder for young people.”