Closing Bell: Nifty near 16000, Sensex declines over 300 points; IT, Realty stocks worst hit

The Indian market continued its losing streak for the third consecutive session as the benchmarks closed lower by more than half per cent on Wednesday. The broader Nifty50 ended nearly 16,000, while the Sensex tanked by around 300 points. The two indices closed at 16,025.80 and 53,749.26 respectively amid pressure from IT, metal and realty stocks.  

Underperforming market Nifty midcap and small cap indices settled with cuts of around 2.5% and nearly 3.5% respectively with India VIX ending past 25-mark.  

Domestic indices wavered tracking mixed sentiments from the global markets as investors assessed the possibility of a recession in the US followed by the Fed policy tightening, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. 

"Global markets are awaiting the release of the Fed minutes, which will be evaluated for details on the path of the upcoming rate hikes. In this whipsaw market, investors can resort to defensives & value stocks & sector," the expert said.  

Sectorally, Nifty IT declined by over three per cent, while PSU Bank, realty, media and metal corrected between 1.5% to 3% on Wednesday.  

Among stocks, NTPC was the top gainer on benchmarks, gaining over three per cent. HDFC LIfe, SBI Life, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Ltd, Kotak Bank, Nestle India, HDFC Bank and ITC were among other lead gainers. 

Asian Paints, Adani Ports, Divis Laboratories, UPL, Tech Mahindra, TCS, L&T, Wipro, State Bank, HCL Tech and Infosys declined the most on Wednesday.