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Equity benchmark indices opened Wednesday’s trading session on a positive note, buoyed by gains in Airtel and select banking stocks
Stock Market Updates Today.
Stock Market Today: Benchmark equity indices ended with modest losses on Wednesday, pressured by heavy selling in IT stocks. However, gains in private banking shares helped limit the overall decline.
The BSE Sensex opened 170 points higher at 74,270 and quickly surged to a peak of 74,392. Afterward, the index reversed its gains and slipped into negative territory, dropping to a low of 73,598 — a decline of 794 points from the day’s high. The Sensex closed the day down by 73 points, or 0.1%, at 74,030, marking its fourth consecutive session of losses.
The NSE Nifty 50, after reaching a high of 22,577, fell to a low of 22,330 — a drop of 247 points during intraday trading — before settling 27 points lower at 22,470.
Among the 30 Sensex stocks, IndusInd Bank was the top performer, rising nearly 5% after the bank’s CEO and group chairman addressed investor concerns. Other notable gainers included Tata Motors, Kotak Bank, Bajaj Finance, ITC, HDFC Bank, and Sun Pharma, all up by 1-3% each.
In contrast, Infosys saw a significant drop of over 4%. Other notable decliners included Tech Mahindra, Nestle India, HCL Technologies, TCS, Asian Paints, Axis Bank, Adani Ports, Hindustan Unilever, Zomato, and SBI, which all posted losses between 1-3%.
In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices both closed with losses of around 0.5%. The overall market breadth was negative, with nearly 2,500 stocks declining compared to approximately 1,500 advancing stocks on the BSE.
Sector-wise, the BSE IT index fell by more than 3% due to concerns over a potential US recession and downgrades by Morgan Stanley and Motilal Oswal Financial Services. The Realty index dropped 1.7%, and the Metal index fell 0.5%. On the upside, the Nifty Private Bank index gained 0.7%.
Global Cues
In the US, stock indices extended their losses overnight. The Dow Jones dropped by over 1%, while the S&P 500 and NASDAQ also saw declines after US President Donald Trump announced plans to double tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada. However, recent reports indicate that Trump has now decided against imposing additional tariffs on Canada.
Earlier, Trump had announced an increase in tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports from Canada to 50% in retaliation against Ontario’s decision to impose a 25% tariff on its electricity exports to the US. Additionally, he threatened to “substantially increase” tariffs on car imports into the US, set to take effect on April 2.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Australian indices such as the ALL Ordinaries and ASX 200 were down by around 1.5% each. The Hang Seng fell 0.3%, and the Straits Times Index declined by 0.1%. However, the Nikkei gained 0.2%, while the KOSPI and Taiwan indices surged by 1.4% and 0.8%, respectively.