MUMBAI: Indian benchmark equity indices ended sharply lower on Wednesday as a surge in global oil prices and rising geopolitical tensions weighed on investor sentiment.
At the closing bell, Sensex settled at 76, 863.71, down 1.72 per cent or 1, 342.27 points, while the Nifty ended at 23, 866.85, plunging 394.75 points or 1.63 per cent. The decline was led by automobile, banking, real estate, IT, FMCG and consumer durables stocks such as Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, Eicher Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank, which declined up to around 5 per cent.
Sectorally, Nifty Auto emerged as the worst-performing sector, falling 3.15 per cent to 25, 926. The Nifty Bank declined more than 2 per cent to 55, 735.75, while the Nifty Financial Services dropped 2.32 per cent and the Nifty Private Bank slipped 2.41 per cent.
Among other sectors, the Nifty IT declined 1.24 per cent, Nifty FMCG slipped 1.10 per cent, and Nifty Realty dropped 1.71 per cent.