Sensex Ends 937 Points Lower; Nifty Below 14,000 For The First Time Since 4 Jan

Indian market benchmark indices turned negative for the first time in 2021 on Wednesday with NSE's Nifty 50 index giving up the 14,000-mark for the first time since 4 January, on as selling pressure intensified in the noon deals.

BSE's Sensex ended 937.66 points or 1.94% lower at 47,409.93 while NSE's Nifty 50 closed 275.20 points or 1.93% lower at 13,963.70.

The Nifty Bank and Financial Services, the heavyweight stocks on both Sensex and Nifty, led the losses while the pharma, metal and auto indices pressurised further.

IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank were the top Sensex laggards, falling 4% each while Dr Reddy's, Sun Pharma, Titan, ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank were all down over 3%, each.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices fell 1.5% and 0.8%, respectively.

There were cues from the global markets that also added to the pressure on the Indian market indices, ahead of the Union Budget presentation.

In the European as well as Asia market, stocks were mixed on Wednesday, echoing an uncertain trend seen in other global markets overnight. US stock futures contracts tied to the major American equity indexes were mixed during the overnight session as Wall Street awaited updates from Apple, Facebook and Tesla after Microsoft's robust results, due on Wednesday. The US Federal Reserve meeting also remained in focus.