India's equity benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, experienced significant declines on Wednesday, succumbing to heavy selling pressure primarily in metal, auto, and IT stocks.
This drop comes amid widespread profit booking following recent gains and growing uncertainty over an anticipated interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve, traders reported.
The 30-share BSE Sensex opened the day with a gain of 129.72 points, reaching a fresh all-time high of 80,481.36. However, this positive start was short-lived as the index plunged 915.88 points, or 1.13 percent, to trade at 79,435.76. By the close of the session, the Sensex had recovered slightly but still ended down by 426.87 points, or 0.53 percent, at 79,924.77.
Similarly, the NSE Nifty touched a record high of 24,461.05 in early trading but then dropped 291.4 points, or 1.19 percent, to 24,141.80 during the day. The Nifty ultimately settled 108.75 points lower, or 0.45 percent, at 24,324.45.
The downturn in the Sensex was notably impacted by Mahindra & Mahindra, which saw its stock fall by over 6 percent after the company announced a price reduction for its SUV models to stimulate demand. The XUV700's fully-loaded AX7 range now starts at Rs 19.49 lakh, reflecting a price cut of over Rs 2 lakh.
Other significant losers in the Sensex pack included Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies, State Bank of India, JSW Steel, Tata Motors, and Kotak Mahindra Bank. Conversely, Asian Paints, NTPC, Power Grid, Adani Ports, and Bharti Airtel emerged as the day's winners.
In Asian markets, Shanghai and Hong Kong closed lower, while Seoul and Tokyo ended higher. European markets were trading higher in mid-session deals, while US markets concluded Tuesday's session with mixed results.
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