Mumbai

Indian benchmark indices saw a sharp correction on Wednesday’s trading session amid selling pressure ahead of the final phase of elections.

The Nifty 50 index declined by 0.80 percent, or 183 points, to close at 22,704.70, while the BSE Sensex fell by 667 points, or 0.89 percent, settling at 74,502.90.

Weak global cues prompted investors to take profits ahead of the US core PCE data, a key gauge of inflation that is anticipated to rise. Continued soaring of global inflation, like latest trend in Japan and Australia is diminishing investor expectation of a US Fed rate cut in the near term. Broad based weakness is noticed across the sectors with heavy underperformance from financials and IT said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

In the broader market, all indices except for the Nifty Small Cap 100, Nifty Small Cap 250, and Nifty Microcap 250 faced selling pressure and closed with declines.

Among the Nifty sectoral indices, Nifty Media, Metal, Pharma, and Nifty Healthcare shone, while all other sectoral indices closed with declines.

The top gainers on the Nifty 50 were Hindalco, Divi’s Lab, Power Grid, Bajaj Auto, and Cipla. The top losers included HDFC Life, SBI Life, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consumers, and Bajaj Finserv.

During Wednesday’s session, a total of 2,715 stocks traded on the National Stock Exchange, with 1,124 advancing, 1,481 declining, and 110 remaining unchanged.

The BSE MidCap index declined by 0.28 percent, while the BSE SmallCap index rose by 0.29 percent.