Indian equity benchmark indices ended lower on Wednesday, although they recovered a significant portion of intra-day losses supported by gains in PSU bank and financial stocks.
Markets witnessed sharp volatility during the session, with heavy selling pressure in information technology stocks weighing on investor sentiment.
However, buying in PSU banks, private banks, and healthcare stocks helped the indices trim losses from the day’s low.
The Nifty closed 77.95 points or 0.33 per cent lower at 23,405.60, while the Sensex declined 303.67 points or 0.41 per cent to settle at 74,346.17.
“23,500 remains the key level to watch. A sustained move above this zone could improve sentiment and trigger a recovery towards 23,600 and subsequently 23,800, where significant call-based resistance remains visible,” an analyst stated.
“On the downside, 23,300–23,350 remains the immediate support band, followed by the crucial 23,150–23,200 demand zone that has held multiple times over the past few sessions,” as per the market expert.
Among Nifty stocks, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, InterGlobe Aviation, and Max Healthcare Institute emerged as the top gainers.
Shares of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tech Mahindra, and HCLTech were among the top laggards on the Sensex, contributing significantly to the decline in the headline index.
Sectorally, the Nifty IT index emerged as the worst performer, falling more than 5 per cent during the session amid broad-based weakness in technology counters.
On the other hand, the Nifty PSU Bank index rose the most among sectoral indices, while the Nifty Bank, Nifty Private Bank, and Nifty Healthcare indices also outperformed the broader market.
In the broader markets, the Nifty MidCap index ended 0.42 per cent lower, while the Nifty SmallCap index closed down 0.11 per cent.
Market participants remained cautious amid continued pressure in IT stocks, though gains in financial and healthcare counters helped prevent a sharper decline in the benchmark indices.
(IANS Inputs)
