Markets end 1% lower; Nifty below 18,000, Sensex slips over 650 points; IT shares drag

The Indian markets on Wednesday slipped nearly 1 per cent for second consecutive day amid negative global cues and FIIs selling pressure. The broader Nifty gave up to 18,000, while the Sensex shed over 600 points on Wednesday. Dragged by IT, Financial and private bank shares, the two indices ended the day at 17,938.40 (down 0.96%) and 60,098.82 (down 1.08%) respectively.  

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Shares that declined the most were Asian Paints, Infosys, Shree Cement, Hindustan Unilever, Grasim, Bajaj Finance, Wipro, ICICI Bank and TCS. ONGC, Tata Motors, State Bank of India, Coal India, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Maruti and Mahindra & Mahindra provided some cushion to the falling market.  

In the broader market, Nifty Small Cap outperformed the benchmarks as Nifty Small Cap 50 and Nifty Small Cap 250 gained around 0.20%.  

Sectorally, auto, media, metal, PSU Bank and oil & gas witnessed some buying interest in otherwise negative market.   

"Weakness entered into the second day as Nifty slipped below the 18000-mark. Selling pressure during the day dragged the Nifty below 10 days exponential moving average for the first time since December last year. Besides, two back-to-back significant red candles on the daily chart indicate weakness in the market which may extend over the near future," said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.  

He said on the lower end, support is visible at 17880, below which the index may dip towards 17750. Resistance is pegged at 18050/18200, he added. 

Earlier, Rahul Sharma - co-owner, Equity 99 had said, "The correction might continue for some time now with minor profit booking seen with Budget nearing. Investors should take advantage of this fall to add quality counters on major dips."