Closing Bell: Nifty ends near 16,200, Sensex sheds over 250 points; banks shine, IT, auto drag

After opening on a positive note, the Indian market witnessed a massive selling pressure as benchmarks extended the losses to fourth straight day on Wednesday. Headline indices Nifty50 and the Sensex dropped around half per cent as the former settled below 16, 200 and the latter ended up shedding more than 200 points. The benchmarks ended at 16,167.10 and 54,088.39 as the market witnesses some last hour recovery after correcting up to 1.5% in the early trade. The volatility in the market also pushed India VIX to end near 23-mark.  

"Indices displayed extreme volatility today ahead of the CPI & IIP data this week. While we did see a sharp recovery in Indices during afternoon Trade, the market breadth was very weak with several stocks in the broader market taking a big knock-on selling pressure as the Small-Cap Index lost 3% today, " said S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP securities. 

At the closing, Nifty small cap closed with around 3% loss, while midcap too ended in the red with over 0.3% cuts.  

Sector-wise, good buying interest was seen in banking and financial stocks as IT and Autos took maximum beatings. 

Among stocks, ONGC, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Cipla, HDFC Ltd, Kotak Bank, State Bank of India and HDFC were among top gainers in a falling market.  

On the other hand, Shree Cements, NTPC, L&T, Bajaj Finserv, BPCL, PowerGrid, Bajaj Finance and Maruti dragged the benchmarks the most on Wednesday.