Benchmark stock index Sensex fell by 352 points and Nifty closed below 22,700 on Wednesday, dragged down by selling in IT shares and blue-chip Reliance Industries amid rising crude oil prices and caution ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s policy decision.
The 30-share BSE Sensex opened lower and tanked 995 points to the day’s low of 72,603.57 in morning deals. The barometer later recovered some of the losses to settle at 73,246.03, down by 352.64 points, or 0.48 per cent.
The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 50.90 points, or 0.22 per cent, to close at 22,698.85.
Broader indices, however, advanced on select buying by investors. The BSE SmallCap Select index climbed 0.85 per cent and the MidCap Select index by 0.66 per cent.
Meanwhile, shares of Jio Platforms, the Reliance Industries-backed digital services company, made a blockbuster debut on Wednesday.
The stock ended nearly 27 per cent higher against the issue price of Rs 1,119, becoming the second most valuable domestic firm after Reliance Industries by market capitalisation. Jio Platforms commanded a market valuation of Rs 13 lakh crore.
From the 30 Sensex firms, Reliance Industries dropped 3.46 per cent, Infosys 3.34 per cent, Tech Mahindra 1.83 per cent, Tata Consultancy Services 1.68 per cent, Bharti Airtel 1.42 per cent and Tata Steel 1.37 per cent.
Larsen & Toubro jumped nearly 4 per cent after the engineering major reported a 32.5 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 5,202.10 crore for the quarter ended September 2026, driven by higher revenue.
Trent, State Bank of India, Axis Bank and InterGlobe Aviation were also the winners from the blue-chip pack.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, jumped 0.99 per cent to USD 114.5 per barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 4,240.39 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
Among BSE sectoral indices, Energy tumbled 2.26 per cent, Oil & Gas 2.09 per cent, IT 1.77 per cent, Metal 0.70 per cent, FMCG 0.48 per cent, Utilities 0.36 per cent and Realty 0.36 per cent.
Hospitals, MidSmall Private Banks, MidSmall Private Banks Quality Tilt, Auto, Healthcare, Consumer Discretionary, Top 10 Banks and Insurance were the winners.
In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended higher.
Markets in Europe were trading lower.
The US markets ended higher on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the Sensex dipped 8.08 points, or 0.01 per cent, to settle at 73,598.67. The Nifty skidded 3.45 points, or 0.02 per cent, to end at 22,749.75.
(PTI)
