The BSE Sensex fell 537.22 points, or 0.94%, to close at 56,819.39. The Nifty declined 162.40 points, or 0.94%, to end at 17,038.4. Out of the 50 shares on the Nifty, 40 ended lower, while losers outnumbered gainers in the ratio 2,274: 1,096 on the BSE.
Analysts said the silver lining of the trading session was that the Nifty managed to stay above the key support level of 17,000.
“The Nifty respected its crucial support levels on the downside, indicating emergence of buying interest at lower zones even after the weakness due to global market selloff,” said Siddhartha Khemka, head – retail research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services. “The Nifty needs to hold above the 17,000 levels for an up-move towards 17,200-17,250 zones.”
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea shed 1%, Taiwan lost 2% and Indonesia fell 0.5%. Chinese stocks rebounded after the recent plunge as the country’s industrial production and profits rose in the March quarter. On Tuesday night, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.95% to hit a fresh 52-week low. The Dow Jones Industrial declined 2.4%, to 33,240.18. The S&P 500 dropped 2.8%. On Wednesday, STOXX Europe 600 was up 0.6%.
At home, both indices have shuttled between gains and losses in the past few days, heightening uncertainty over the direction of the market. “One day up, one day down is a clear sign of a directionless market,” said Sameet Chavan, chief analyst-technical and derivatives at Angel One. “The overall sentiment is a bit cautious and in this environment we are fortunate that we are not replicating the corrective moves in global markets.”
Oil prices edged higher on Wednesday after Russia cut gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland, offsetting concerns over slowing demand from China. Brent crude futures inched up 0.4% to $105.42 a barrel on Wednesday.
