CLOSING BELL Equity markets succumbed to severe selling pressure on Wednesday led by losses in financial stocks and the monthly F&O expiry that weakened investor sentiment.
The BSE Sensex slumped 774 points (1.3 per cent) to close at 60,205 after it recovered from its intra day low of 60,081. The NSE Nifty lost 226 points to close at 17,892.
Across the two indices, IndusInd Bank, HDFC twins, SBI, Adani Ports, Tech M, Axis Bank and Ultratech Cement were the top drags, slipping 1-4 per cent.
On the other hand, Bajaj Auto, Maruti, HUL, Britannia, Tata Steel, and Hindalco firmly defied the weak trend and ended with gains of up to 1 per cent.
Within sectors, the Nifty PSB index tanked 3.6 per cent followed by bank, financial indices. Auto, metals and FMCG pockets closed nearly flat with fractional cuts.
In the broader market, the BSE midcap index cracked 1.5 per cent while smallcap index lost around 1 per cent. ACC, Adani Power, Motilal Oswal, Vodafone Idea, Concor and Aurobindo Pharma led midcap losses, sinking up to 7 per cent.
Among other stocks,
Indus Towers plunged 7 per cent after the company posted a net loss of Rs 708 crore in Q3FY23.
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The sharp fall in Adani group stocks following a report by a well-known US activist investor Hindenburg Research LLC that said it was shorting them presents a good opportunity to buy these stocks lower from a long-term perspective, analysts say.
Read here  "Sensex slumps 774 pts, Nifty ends below 17900; Auto, FMCG stocks outshine")
