Mumbai, March 12 Indian stock markets remained highly volatile on Wednesday, with benchmark indices ending the session almost flat.
Heavy selling in IT stocks weighed on the market, while gains in private banks helped limit the decline.
The Sensex started the day on a positive note, opening nearly 170 points higher at 74,270 and rising to an intra-day high of 74,392.
However, the gains were short-lived as the index slipped into negative territory, falling to a low of 73,598, nearly 800 points down from the day’s peak.
Eventually, the Sensex closed with a loss of 73 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 74,030. This marked the fourth consecutive session of losses for the index.
The Nifty also followed a similar trend, touching a high of 22,577 before dropping to a low of 22,330. It ended the day 27 points lower at 22,470.
Among the Sensex stocks, IndusInd Bank emerged as the top gainer, rising nearly 5 per cent after its CEO and group chairman addressed investor concerns.
Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance, ITC, HDFC Bank, and Sun Pharma also recorded gains of 1 to 3 per cent.
On the other hand, IT stocks dragged the market down, with Infosys plunging over 4 per cent. Tech Mahindra, Nestle India, HCL Technologies, and TCS also ended lower, declining between 1 and 3 per cent.
Other major losers included Asian Paints, Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Zomato, and SBI.
The broader market also witnessed losses, with the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices slipping by 0.5 per cent each.
Market breadth remained weak, as nearly 2,500 stocks declined compared to around 1,500 advancing stocks on the BSE.
Sector-wise, the IT index suffered the most, dropping over 3 per cent amid concerns of a possible US recession and stock downgrades by Morgan Stanley and Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
The real estate sector also saw losses of 1.7 per cent, while the metal sector declined by 0.5 per cent. On the positive side, private banks outperformed, with the Nifty Private Bank index gaining 0.7 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Indian rupee ended flat at 87.32 per dollar, compared to its previous close of 87.21.
According to Sundar Kewat from Ashika Institutional Equity, the initial selloff was driven by concerns over global trade policies following US President Donald Trump's warning about potentially doubling tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium, which weighed on investor sentiment.
Sector-wise, weakness was observed in IT, realty and metals, while strength was seen in private banks, automobiles, and financial services, he added.
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