The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Wednesday plunged sharply due to heavy sell-off in some select stocks. The S&P BSE Sensex ended 790 points to settle at 72,304. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty closed at 21,951, down 247 points.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, PowerGrid lost 4.43 per cent, followed by Maruti, IndusInd Bank, M&M, Wipro, JSW Steel. On the flip side, HUL, TCS, Infosys, Airtel were the only gainers. Among specific stocks, shares of Vodafone Idea on Wednesday tanked 13.99 per cent to Rs 13.65 apiece, on the BSE.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices sank 1.8 per cent and 1.9 per cent, respectively.
Sectorally, Nifty Media, Realty, Metal, and PSU bank indices dropped about 2 per cent to 3.5 per cent. All other indices slipped up to 1.5 per cent.
In the previous session on Tuesday, the Sensex rose 305 points to settle at 73,095, while the Nifty ended 76 points up at 22,198.
A total of 2,963 stocks saw declines, while 881 advanced and 77 remained unchanged.
In the Asian markets, Seoul saw gains, whereas Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong closed with losses. European markets mostly traded lower, while the US markets ended Tuesday on a mostly higher note.
The global oil benchmark, Brent crude, saw a decline of 0.90 percent, settling at $82.90 per barrel.
According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold off equities worth Rs 1,509.16 crore on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the rupee slipped by 3 paise to close at 82.92 (provisional) against the US dollar, tracking the downward trend in equity markets and foreign fund outflows, coupled with increased demand for the American currency at month-end.
In the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit commenced trading at 82.90 and hit an intraday low of 82.95 against the greenback. It eventually settled at 82.92 (provisional) against the dollar, marking a loss of 3 paise from its previous close. On Tuesday, the rupee had closed 1 paisa lower at 82.89 against the US dollar.