Indian equity benchmarks snapped their two-day winning streak on Wednesday, with banking stocks coming under selling pressure and the Nifty failing to hold above 22,700. The broader market showed some resilience during the session, but the gains were not enough to prevent the key indices from ending lower.
The Sensex fell 252 points, or around 0.35%, to close at 72,782, while the Nifty slipped 99 points to 22,623. The Nifty Bank declined 165 points to 55,316, underperforming the broader market after two sessions of gains. The midcap index also ended lower, shedding 50 points to 59,409.
The Nifty IT index, however, extended its gains for a second consecutive session, outperforming the major indices. Market breadth remained in favour of advances, with the advance-decline ratio at around 3:2, suggesting that stock-specific gains continued despite the weakness in the headline indices.
Stocks in focusTransformers and Rectifiers , or TARIL, was among the standout performers, surging 19% after reporting strong second-quarter results. Bharat Heavy Electricals gained nearly 5% following its Q2 results, while Vedanta Group stocks rallied, with Vedanta Power rising more than 11%.
Aegis Logistics climbed nearly 8% after announcing a pact to acquire a majority stake in Tristar. Bharat Coking Coal advanced 8% after the company raised coking coal prices. The session also saw sharp declines in select stocks. Shriram Finance fell nearly 5% amid profit-booking, while Meesho slipped more than 5% as traders booked profits following optimism around its blockbuster sale.
Bank of Baroda lost nearly 3% after reports that the bank had been named in a $15 billion lawsuit by the founder of NMC Health. GTPL Hathway dropped 4% after reporting a net loss for the September quarter. Life insurance stocks remained under pressure amid reports concerning proposed norms in an Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India consultation paper.
The market’s decline was therefore accompanied by a mixed sectoral picture, with IT and select earnings-driven stocks providing pockets of strength even as banking shares weighed on the benchmarks.