Benchmark indices fell for the seventh consecutive session Thursday with the Sensex losing more than 300 points intraday amid thin volumes ahead of Christmas holiday.The consistent fall may be indicating that investors are worried about the impact of demonetisation on December quarter earnings & Q4 outlook, monthly sales numbers and economic data due next month. They also maintained cautious stance ahead of two-day GST Council meet that will start today, and US president-elect Donald Trump’s policies that will be announced in January.

The market declined for seven sessions in a row for the first time since March 2015, falling below the psychological 8000-mark on the Nifty and 26000 level on the Sensex for the first time since November 24.

The 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 262.78 points or 1 percent to 25979.60, taking the total loss for seven consecutive days to 718 points.

The 50-share NSE Nifty fell 82.20 points or 1.02 percent to 7979.10. The broader markets underperformed benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices shedding 1.5 percent and 1.25 percent, respectively.

Experts say they expect the correction amid consolidation to continue in near term as the Nifty broke 8000 level but according to them, the market is still in its range of 7800-8500 and it is the best time to pick quality stocks for long term.

Madhav Dhar of GTI Capital expects the market to fall another 5 percent. It has factored in 75 percent of all the negative news and needs to watch for troublesome events in the global economy, he feels.

Market analyst, Rakesh Arora says the Indian equity seems to be caught in a global trend where there is a risk-off trade happening and emerging markets are seeing a sell-off.

It is likely that we are 2-5 percent away from the bottom, so it is right time to start buying, believes Arora.

FIIs net sold nearly Rs 3,500 crore worth of shares in December, so far, against more than Rs 17,000 crore worth of outflow in November.

The market breadth was largely in favour of declines. About four shares declined for every share rising on the exchange.

All sectoral indices closed in the red with Nifty Metal & PSU Bank down the most at 2.85 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively. Only four Sensex stocks closed in the green, which were ITC, Asian Paints, Tata Motors and Wipro that gained 0.2-0.5 percent.

Hindalco Industries, Adani Ports, ONGC, Bharti Airtel and Tata Steel were the biggest losers, down 3-4 percent percent followed by L&T, HDFC, Infosys, SBI and Axis Bank with 1.5-2 percent loss.

In the broader space, Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company shares rose 1.5 percent after the company received complete response letter from the US Food and Drug Administration for the new drug application for Xelpros, a preservative-free eye drop.

Reliance Communications fell 4.3 percent after Moody’s Investors Service said that company’s ratings will “remain on review for downgrade” despite the company signing an agreement with Canada-based Brookfield Infrastructure to sell its tower assets.

Phoenix Mills gained 2.5 percent as the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will acquire up to 49 percent in company’s subsidiary Island Star Mall Developers in 3 years.

Jubilant Foodworks was down 1.7 percent. Kotak Institutional reduced its target price on the stock to Rs 820 from Rs 900 following cut in earnings estimates as the stock is still around 15-20 percent expensive.

European markets were lower as trading desks began to thin out on the last full day of work for London’s financial sector before the long Christmas break. Asian shares ended mixed with the Hang Seng losing 0.8 percent.