Stock Market: Sensex Declines 200 Points; Nifty Around 19,600. Vedanta Slips 5 Per Cent

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Nestle, Bajaj Finance, Titan, TCS were among the losers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Wednesday were trading in the red, with losses led by index majors. At 9.47 am, the BSE Sensex was down by 204 points to 65,741. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 19,614, down 51 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Nestle, Bajaj Finance, Titan, TCS were among the losers. On the upside, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, L&T, JSW Steel, UltraCemco, Reliance emerged early gainers.

In the broader markets, Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices were up by 0.11 per cent and 0.24 per cent, respectively.

Among specific stocks, Vedanta declined 5 per cent after Moody's Investors Service downgraded the corporate family rating for Anil Agarwal-promoted Vedanta Resources in the absence of any meaningful progress on refinancing its upcoming debt maturities. Shares of Delta Corp rebounded after two straight sessions of losses.

Sectorwise, the Nifty Metal index was the biggest loser, down 0.5 per cent, followed by the Nifty Financial Services index (0.4 per cent).

In the previous session on Tuesday, the BSE Sensex closed at 65,945, down 78 points, while the NSE Nifty shut shop at 19,665, down 10 points.

In Asian markets, Seoul, and Tokyo were trading in negative territory, while Shanghai and Hong Kong were quoted in the green. The US markets ended lower on Tuesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.99 per cent to $94.89 a barrel.

"Foreign fund outflows have been the biggest constraint in the month so far. Besides, uptick in global oil prices and worries over more rate hikes in the near term are keeping investors in a tight spot," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 693.47 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee rose 5 paise to 83.23 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, recovering from its steep loss in the past two sessions amid a massive selling by foreign equity investors and a strengthening American currency. Weak sentiment in the global equity markets and surging crude oil prices also weighed on the Indian currency, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 83.23 and traded in a narrow range of 83.21 to 83.24 against the greenback. It later traded at 83.23 against the dollar, registering a gain of 5 paise from its previous close. The rupee lost 34 paise in the past two sessions. It closed 15 paise lower at 83.28 against the dollar on Tuesday, a day after registering a loss of 19 paise.