The Indian stock market on Wednesday extended early losses to close sharply lower amid pressure in IT stocks. At the close, the Sensex was down 757 points, or 0.95 percent, at 78,516, while the Nifty declined 198 points to 24,378.
Profit booking was seen in banks and IT heavyweights amid the ongoing Q4 earnings season.
Among sectors, the IT index was down 4.5%, private banks shed 0.4%, while FMCG, media, metal, and realty rose 0.4-1%.
On the Nifty, the key gainers were Tata Consumer Products, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, NTPC, Jio Financial Services. While on the losing side were HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, TCS, M&M.
In the FMCG stocks, Emami, Tata Consumer Products, Hindustan Unilever, United Spirits, Varun Beverages, and Dabur India all closed higher, gaining between 1.5% and 4.2%.
The Indian rupee depreciated by 30 paise to settle at 93.79 against the US dollar on Wednesday, compared to its previous close of 93.49.
Investor sentiment remained cautious after U.S. President Donald Trump announced an indefinite extension of the Iran ceasefire.
In the global market, the US markets signalled a cautious rebound, with S&P futures rising 0.6% and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.7%. In Europe, the STOXX index edged up 0.1% in early trade, while Asia saw a more subdued trend, with MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index (excluding Japan) slipping 0.5% after hitting a seven-week high in the previous session.
Oil prices slipped below the $100 mark. Brent crude futures fell 0.3% to around $98.16 per barrel after briefly nearing $100 earlier in the session.