The Indian benchmark indices ended lower on Wednesday, as the Sensex closed at 81,919.06 falling more than 261 points and the Nifty ended trade at 25,167.50 declining over 65 points.
In the 30-share BSE Sensex, among the top gainers were stocks such as Eternal, Ultra Cement, IndiGo, Reliance and PowerGrid. Meanwhile, the laggards included stocks like Titan, Sun Pharmaceuticals, NTPC, Infosys and Maruti.
In the broader markets, the Nifty Smallcap 50 declined 1.30 per cent as volatility remained extremely high. Sectorally, the Nifty Consumer Durables Index fell 1.66 per cent and the Nifty Oil & Gas Index rose 0.27 per cent.
Previously, during the morning session, the Sensex fell 385.82 points to 81,794.65, while the NSE Nifty slipped 91.5 points to 25,141 in early trade.
FIIs Remain Net Sellers, DIIs Step In
Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 2,938.33 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 3,665.69 crore, according to exchange data.
Asian Markets Trade Mixed
In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng indices were trading lower, while China’s Shanghai SSE Composite index quoted marginally higher.
Wall Street Sees Sharp Sell-Off
US markets ended sharply lower on Tuesday. The Nasdaq Composite plunged 2.39 per cent, the S&P 500 declined 2.06 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.76 per cent.
US equities closed with their worst single-day fall since October, with the S&P 500 slipping around 2 per cent and the Nasdaq tumbling close to 2.5 per cent.
Trade War Fears Weigh On Sentiment
The global sell-off was triggered by renewed trade-war concerns after President Donald Trump escalated tariff threats against select European nations opposing US control over Greenland. Proposed duties are set to rise from 10 per cent in February to 25 per cent by June, said Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm.
He added that renewed US tariff threats, along with continued foreign investor selling, are weighing heavily on market sentiment.
Oil Prices Decline
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, slipped 1.11 per cent to USD 64.19 per barrel.
