Indices Snaps 7-Day Gains; Nifty Ends Below 23,500 Level

Barring the auto index, all sectoral indices on the NSE ended in the red, with media, oil & gas, and realty shares declining the most.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 728.69 points or 0.93% to 77,288.50. The Nifty 50 index fell 181.80 points or 0.77% to 23,486.85.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.67% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 1.45%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 919 shares rose and 3,115 shares fell. A total of 109 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, declined 1.21% to 13.47.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media declined 2.40% to 1,487.35. The index tumbled 3.96% in the two trading sessions.

Dish TV India (down 4.27%), Tips Music (down 4.08%), Den Networks (down 4.03%), Sun TV Network (down 3.09%), Saregama India (down 2.52%), Hathway Cable & Datacom (down 2.33%), PVR Inox (down 2.26%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (down 2.23%), Network 18 Media & Investments (down 1.87%) and Nazara Technologies (down 0.53%) tumbled.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) shed 0.42%. The company announced that its hydrocarbon business, L&T Energy Hydrocarbon (LTEH), has secured its largest-ever Ultra-Mega offshore contract from QatarEnergy LNG for the North Field Production Sustainability Offshore Compression Project.

RPP Infra Projects shed 0.34%. The company announced that it has entered into an agreement worth Rs 75 crore to acquire 120 acres of land in proximity to the proposed new Chennai Airport.

Bajaj Steel Industries declined 2.63%. The company said that it has received an export order worth about Rs 43 crore ($5.03 million) from an international client.

Atishay hit an upper circuit of 5% after the company announced that it has secured a new work order worth Rs 29.60 lakhs for providing cloud hosting services from the Directorate of Cooperation, Himachal Pradesh.

Welspun Enterprises fell 1.09%. The company informed that its material subsidiary, Welspun Michigan Engineers (WMEL), along with its joint venture with Aaradhyaa & Co (WMEL-ANC JV), has bagged an order worth Rs 328.12 crore from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Apcotex Industries tumbled 3.42% after the company informed that Sachin Karwa, chief financial officer (CFO) of the company, has tendered his resignation to pursue opportunities outside the organization.

Jindal Stainless rose 0.40%. The company's board approved the acquisition of a 5.03% stake in Mynd Solutions, a leading RBI-regulated TReDS (Trade Receivables Electronic Discounting System) and supply chain financing platform. The acquisition is valued at Rs 102.7 crore.

Mukka Proteins declined 1.93%. The company said it acquired a 51% majority stake in FABBCO Bio Cycle and Bio Protein Technology. The investment, valued at Rs 6 crore, is intended to strengthen Mukka Proteins (MPL)'s position in the alternative feed sector and complement its existing insect protein venture, Ento Proteins.

Waaree Renewable Technologies fell 0.22%. The company announced that it has received a letter of award (LoA) worth Rs 232.30 crore from Waaree Energies for a solar power project.

NCC rallied 3.30% after the firm secured two advance work orders worth Rs 10,804.56 crore from Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) for the middle-mile network of BharatNet in Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh.

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) tumbled 4.12%. The company said that it has raised Rs 910.37 crore through the issuance of privately placed subordinated Tier-II bonds for a 10-year tenor at an annual coupon rate of 7.74%.

Global Markets:

Most European shares declined on Wednesday as investors awaited the Spring Statement from U.K. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves. Reeves is expected to announce billions of pounds in spending cuts to address a budget shortfall caused by the rise in borrowing costs since her first fiscal plan was released last fall.

The U.K.'s inflation rate fell slightly to 2.8% in February, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics. Core inflation, which excludes more volatile energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices, rose by 3.5% in February, down from 3.7% in January.

Most Asian stocks ended higher as concerns eased over the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's planned trade tariffs.

The Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda warned of further interest rate hikes. Meanwhile, Japan's corporate services price index'a key measure of producer inflation'came in slightly cooler than expected for February but remained sticky at 3%, data showed on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, U.S. indices advanced on Tuesday, driven primarily by gains in heavyweight technology stocks. The S&P 500 edged up 0.2% to 5,776.62, while the NASDAQ Composite gained 0.5% to 18,271.86. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched higher to 42,587.50, marking a third consecutive day of gains for all three indexes.

Tesla Inc climbed over 3% despite data showing a second straight month of declining European sales. Meanwhile, GameStop Corp surged 8% in after-hours trading following its management's approval of a plan to invest excess cash in Bitcoin.

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to a reading of 92.9 down from an upward revised 100.1 in the prior month amid ongoing concerns about a tariff-induced slowdown.

Trump's proposed tariffs remained in focus ahead of an April 2 announcement on additional trade measures. Reports indicating that the tariffs may be less severe than initially feared helped boost Wall Street sentiment this week. However, the 47th President reiterated his stance on imposing duties on automobile imports and signaled upcoming tariffs on lumber and semiconductors. Next week, he is expected to unveil reciprocal tariffs on around 15 major U.S. trading partners, though the full scope and impact remain uncertain.

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