Indian indices ended in the red on Wednesday as losses in financials, IT, and pharma stocks overpowered gains in auto, media, and PSU Bank space. The Sensex ended 400.34 points or 0.77 percent lower at 51,703.83 while Nifty fell 104.55 points or 0.68 percent to settle at 15,208.

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Broader markets, however, ended positively for the day with the midcap and smallcap indices up 0.31 percent and 0.03 percent, respectively.

On the Nifty50 index, Hero MotoCorp, BPCL, SBI, Adani Ports, and Power Grid were the top gainers while Nestle India, Asian Paints, Maruti, Bajaj FinServ, and HDFC Bank led the losses.

Among sectors, the Nifty pharma lost the most, down 1.3 percent while Nifty IT fell 1.29 percent. Nifty Financial Services also shed 1.10 percent, while Nifty FMCG, Nifty Bank, and Nifty Realty also traded in the red. However, the Nifty PSU Bank index jumped over 5 percent and Nifty Media, metal, and auto traded in the green.

Media reports suggest that the government has shortlisted four mid-sized state-run banks for privatisation. Shares of these 4 PSBs - Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and Central Bank of India jumped 17-20 percent in intra-day deals. In the past two days, shares of these banks have risen over 40 percent each.

Shares of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) rose 5 percent to hit a new high in intra-day deals on Wednesday after the company completed the acquisition of Dighi Port Limited (DPL) for Rs 705 crore.

SP Apparels share price jumped 20 percent intraday on Wednesday after the company bagged a new order worth Rs 25 crore. The share touched its 52-week high Rs 231 and 52-week low Rs 57.95 on 14 January, 2020 and 26 May 2020, respectively.

The public issue of RailTel Corporation of India continued to see good subscription for the second day of bidding on Wednesday. It has been subscribed 4.24 times so far with strong support from retail investors -- with 8 times subscription.

First Published:Feb 17, 2021 3:36 PM IST