India’s equity markets finished the session in negative territory on Wednesday, with sectoral losses in Banking, Auto and Oil & Gas contributing to broad weakness across both exchanges.
At the close on the National Stock Exchange, the Nifty 50 declined 2.12%. On the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Sensex 30 finished the day down 2.15%.
Notable winners and losers
Among Nifty 50 constituents, Oil And Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (NSE:ONGC) was the top performer, rising 1.15% or 2.82 points to close at 247.00. Bajaj Auto Ltd (NSE:BAJA) added 0.65% or 65.50 points to finish at 10,175.00, while Hindalco Industries Ltd. (NSE:HALC) gained 0.42% or 4.05 points to end the day at 973.55.
The largest declines on the Nifty 50 came from Jio Financial Services Ltd (NSE:JIOF), which slid 5.02% or 12.20 points to close at 230.87. Shriram Finance Ltd. (NSE:SHMF) fell 4.87% or 51.90 points to 1,014.90, and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (NSE:MRTI) dropped 3.89% or 565.00 points to finish at 13,973.00.
Sensex movers
On the BSE Sensex 30, Infosys Ltd (BO:INFY) edged lower by 0.32% to 1,068.20, Titan Company Ltd (BO:TITN) was down 0.56% to settle at 4,576.70, and Tata Steel Ltd (BO:TISC) lost 0.61% to close at 188.60.
Lagging the pack on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (BO:MRTI), down 3.83% to 13,985.00 in late trade, Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (BO:HLL), which fell 3.32% to 2,136.60, and Bajaj Finance Ltd (BO:BJFN), which dropped 3.08% to 1,010.10 at the close.
Market breadth and volatility
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the National Stock Exchange by 2,040 to 513, with 37 stocks unchanged. On the Bombay Stock Exchange, 2,954 stocks fell, 1,051 advanced and 161 finished unchanged.
The India VIX, which tracks implied volatility on Nifty 50 options, rose 24.83% to 14.54, reflecting a notable increase in expected near-term market volatility.
Commodities and currency moves
In commodities, Gold Futures for August delivery fell 2.23% or 92.55 to $4,064.85 a troy ounce. Crude oil moved higher: August delivery crude rose 4.88% or 3.44 to $73.88 a barrel, while the September Brent contract climbed 5.06% or 3.75 to trade at $77.91 a barrel.
On the currency front, USD/INR strengthened 0.72% to 95.64, and EUR/INR increased 0.63% to 109.06. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.07% at 100.85.
Session snapshot
The session was characterized by broad selling across key sectors and a sharp rise in implied volatility, with energy-linked names such as ONGC bucking the overall weakness while several financial and auto stocks led declines. Market participants also saw a divergence between rising crude oil prices and falling gold futures.
Further detail on individual stock movements and intraday dynamics was limited to the price and percentage changes reported at the close.