The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, snapped their four-day winning run and closed in the red on Wednesday, tracking weakness in their Asian peers as investors now await US lawmakers' key vote on raising the debt ceiling. The BSE Sensex closed at 62,622, down 347 points. On the NSE Nifty50 was down 99 points to 18,534.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, Axis Bank, SBI, Reliance, HDFC twins, NTPC, Tata Steel were among the losers. On the upside, Airtel, TechM, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, Kotak Bank emerged winners. Among specific stocks, Torrent Pharma zoomed 6 per cent on posting net profit of Rs 287 crore in Q4 versus a loss of Rs 118 crore a year ago.
In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices rose 0.5 per cent each.
Sectorwise, Nifty Metal, PSB, Oil & Gas, and Financial indices sank around 1 per cent each. IT and Pharma pockets bucked the trend and gained up to 0.5 per cent.
In the previous session on Tuesday, the S&P BSE Sensex settled 123 points higher at 62,969, while the NSE Nifty 50 ended with a gain of 35 points at 18,634.
"As indicated by multiple economic data points, the Indian economy is presently experiencing a robust recovery, leading to an upward trend in domestic equity markets. However, the rally is being hindered at times due to negative signals from global peers, as observed today. Concerns about a recession and potential interest rate hikes in western markets are impacting the domestic market but it is nevertheless maintaining the outperformance," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Investors will also keep an eye on the Q4 GDP numbers to be announced later on Wednesday, which will provide some sense on where the economy is headed in the near to medium term, Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd said.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong ended lower. European equity markets were trading in the negative territory. The US markets ended on a mixed note on Tuesday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.33 per cent to $72.53 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Tuesday as they bought equities worth Rs 2,085.62 crore, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, falling for the third straight session, the rupee declined by 7 paise to 82.74 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, as intense selling pressure in domestic equities and a strong greenback overseas dented the sentiment.
Forex traders said the continued inflow of foreign capital and a steep decline in crude price, however, restricted the fall in the domestic unit.
On the domestic front, traders were keeping an eye on the annual GDP data to be released later in the day.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 82.71 against the dollar. The currency touched an intraday low of 82.75 and a high of 82.64. The unit finally settled at 82.74 (provisional) against the dollar, registering a fall of 7 paise over its previous close.