Sensex ends 334 points lower, Nifty at 15,635; PSU banks, autos drag

Stock market updates: The Indian benchmark indices fell over half a per cent lower on Wednesday, dragged mainly by sell-off in public sector banks and auto stocks in the second half. The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 51,942, down 334 points, or 0.64 per cent, while the Nifty50 closed the session at 15,635-mark, down 105 points, or 0.67 per cent.

Larsen & Tourbo, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finserv, and IndusInd Bank (down over 1 per cent, each) were the top Sensex laggards while PowerGrid (up 3.8 per cent) and NTPC (up over 1%) were the top gainers.

In the broader market space, the S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices ended the session 0.71 per cent and 0.95 per cent lower, respectively.

Individually, shares of Tata Motors hit an over three-year high of Rs 358.25, up 1.5 per cent, on the BSE in intra-day trade on Wednesday on the back of heavy volumes. However, the stock erased gains in the second half and ended the session 2.72 per cent lower at Rs 343.25.

Birlasoft shares surged 12 per cent to hit a new high of Rs 421 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Wednesday after the CK Birla Group company partnered with 'Regulativ.ai', to co-develop a new AI/ML-based cyber-regulatory reporting platform. The stock erased majority of the gains and closed the session 0.52 per cent higher at Rs 377.95.

All the Nifty sectoral ended today's session in the red, with Nifty Auto, Nifty PSU Bank, and Nifty Realty indexes falling over 1 per cent, each.

Global markets

European stocks steadied near record highs on Wednesday, with investors holding off on taking big bets ahead of a policy decision from the European Central Bank and U.S. inflation reading later this week.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index slipped 0.1% in morning trade, but stayed just short of a record high of 455.66 hit in the previous session. Other main regional bourses including Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 were trading flat.

In Asia, the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan ticked down 0.15% and Japan's Nikkei average shed 0.25 per cent.

(With inputs from Reuters)