Mumbai: The Sensex and Nifty ended lower for the third straight day on Wednesday, closing at levels last seen nearly a month ago. A sharp fag-end selloff in consumer durables, private banks, and IT stocks erased early gains and pushed markets into the red.
The BSE Sensex fell 275.01 points (0.32 percent) to finish at 84,391.27. During the session, it touched a high of 85,020.34 and a low of 84,313.62.
The NSE Nifty slipped 81.65 points (0.32 percent) to close at 25,758, after oscillating between 25,947.65 and 25,734.55 in intraday trade.
Gainers & Losers: Mixed Performance Across Sectors
Many major stocks pulled the indices down. Companies such as Eternal, Trent, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, TCS, BEL, L&T, and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles ended in the red.
On the other hand, stocks like Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, ITC, NTPC, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech, PowerGrid, and Asian Paints managed to post gains, offering some support to the benchmarks.
Why Markets Fell: Global and Local Pressures
According to Vinod Nair of Geojit Investments, Indian markets followed the cautious mood seen globally. Persistent FII outflows, a weak rupee, and uncertainty surrounding US-India trade negotiations added pressure.
In Asia, markets were mostly lower, except the Hang Seng, while European markets also traded in the red. Rising Japanese bond yields and signs that the Bank of Japan may tighten policy further pushed investors towards a risk-off approach.
What’s Next: Eyes on US Fed Meeting
All attention now turns to the upcoming US Federal Reserve meeting, where a 25 bps rate cut is expected. However, mixed economic signals may limit expectations of deeper cuts in 2026.
FIIs sold equities worth Rs 3,760 crore, while DIIs bought Rs 6,224 crore, helping cushion the fall. Meanwhile, Brent crude slipped marginally to USD 61.92 per barrel.
