Benchmark indices were trading over half a per cent lower during the afternoon session on Wednesday.

Market opened weak and slumped further in the first half, as Asian markets remained under pressure. Continued sell-off in Chinese tech stocks amid worries of a regulatory crackdown by the Chinese government spooked investors across the region. F&O settlement on Thursday and the outcome of a crucial US Federal Reserve meeting scheduled later on Wednesday further kept traders on the edge.

VIX rises above 14

At 1 pm, the BSE Sensex was at 52,216.28, down 362.48 points or 0.69 per cent. The Sensex crashed over 700 points to touch a low of 51,802.73. It hit an intra-day high of 52,673.69 during the day. The Nifty 50 was at 15,643.05, down 103.40 points or 0.66 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 15,767.50 and a low of 15,513.45.

On the NSE, the volatility index shot up 7.40 per cent to 14.21, signalling the nervousness of the market.

Bharti Airtel, SBI Life, IndusInd Bank, Divi’s Lab and Adani Ports were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Dr Reddy, Cipla, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra were the laggards.

Also read: Nifty Call: Sell on rallies with tight stop-loss at 15,710

According to Gaurav Garg, Head of Research, CapitalVia Global Research Ltd, traders were further concerned after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed India's economic growth forecast for the current fiscal year by 300 basis points, to 9.5 per cent, from 12.5 per cent earlier in April, attributing the downward revision to a lack of vaccine access and the possibility of fresh coronavirus outbreaks.

FMCG stocks hold forte

On the sectoral front, all indices, except Nifty FMCG were in the red. Financials, Realty and Auto witnessed higher losses.

Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services were down 1.45 per cent and 1.10 per cent, respectively. Nifty Private Bank and Nifty PSU Bank were down 1.16 per cent and 2.06 per cent, respectively. Nifty Auto was down 0.82 per cent while Nifty Realty was down 1.01 per cent.

Meanwhile, Nifty FMCG was up 0.15 per cent.

Broader indices slip

Broader indices were also in the red as selling pressure extended to mid-cap and small-cap stocks as well.

Nifty Midcap 50 was down 0.40 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was down 0.89 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was down 0.28 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap was down 0.66 per cent.

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