Mumbai: Indian equity benchmarks closed lower on Wednesday amid selling in IT and oil & gas sectors, with investors turning cautious ahead of the Q1 earnings season. The BSE Sensex dropped 176.43 points or 0.21 percent to close at 83,536.08. During intra-day trade, the index had slipped as much as 330.23 points to hit a low of 83,382.28. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty fell 46.40 points or 0.18 percent to end at 25,476.10.
Heavyweights such as HCL Tech, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Bharat Electronics, and ICICI Bank were among the top losers on the Sensex. On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech Cement, and Power Grid saw gains, offering some support.
Analysts noted a largely range-bound session. Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said investor sentiment continues to be anchored by domestic consumption themes. He added that while global trade concerns persist, attention is now shifting to corporate earnings and structural growth drivers like infrastructure-led spending and a likely revival in urban demand.
In a major development, shares of mining giant Vedanta fell by 3.38 percent to close at Rs 440.80 after US-based short-seller Viceroy Research released a scathing report. The report alleged that Vedanta resembled a “financially unsustainable” entity and posed serious risks to creditors. Viceroy said it had shorted Vedanta Resources' debt, citing delayed liabilities and overleveraging.
Vedanta, in response, dismissed the claims, calling the report a “malicious combination of selective misinformation and baseless allegations” aimed at damaging the group’s reputation.
Globally, Asia-Pacific markets offered mixed signals. South Korea’s Kospi and Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended higher, while China’s SSE Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped into negative territory. European markets were trading in the green, and the US markets had closed flat on Tuesday.
In the commodities segment, Brent crude rose 0.51 percent to $70.51 a barrel, signaling a slight uptick in global oil prices.
On the investment front, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 26.12 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) were net buyers, pumping in Rs 1,366.82 crore on Tuesday.
(With PTI Inputs)
