The Indian equity benchmark indices ended lower Wednesday dragged by selling in metals and private banking stocks. The Sensex fell 162.78 points, or 0.29 percent, to close at 55,629.49, while the Nifty ended at 16,568.85, down 45.75 points, or 0.28 percent.

Share Market Live

NSE

Broader markets closed mixed as the midcap index gained, while the smallcap index ended in the red.

Among sectors, Nifty Metal, Nifty Private Bank and Nifty Realty fell the most followed by financial services, auto and media indices, while pharma, FMCG, PSU Bank and IT indices ended in the green.

Read here:

Sensex falls 162 points, Nifty ends below 16,600 as metals, banks drag

"Markets traded highly volatile on account of weekly F&O expiry session and ended in the red. We remain cautious on the markets as there is no clear direction over the next move. High volatility and profit-taking in broader markets are adding to the participants’ worries," said Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking.

He suggests investors remain selective and prefer investing in defensive sectors such as FMCG, IT and Pharma.

Here are key stocks that moved the most today:

Vedanta

Vedanta share price extended losses on a second day and ended over 2 percent lower after the mining and metals major on Tuesday dealt with twin blows. First, the Madras High Court issued notice to the company on remediation of contaminated sites at the Tuticorin unit.

Additionally, Vedanta’s listed operating unit Hindustan Zinc postponed a board meeting scheduled on Tuesday to approve an interim dividend, which would have constituted major cash flows for Vedanta.

Jubilant Foodworks

Shares of Jubilant FoodWorks gained more than 3 percent on Wednesday, continuing its upside momentum after the company reported strong Q1 earnings. During 1QFY22, the company posted strong sales growth of 130 percent YoY and profit at Rs 69 crore against loss in 1QFY21.

Going forward, analysts expect the company to report a healthy top-line and bottom-line mainly due to new product launches, new store addition and strong brand. The stock touched a 52-week high of Rs 4,166.40 apiece intraday.

Hindustan Aeronautics

Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) share price rallied almost 4.84 percent to end at Rs 1,119.30 after the public sector company signed a Rs 5,375 crore contract with America's GE Aviation for 99 F404 aircraft engines and support services to power the indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk-1A.

Subex

Shares price of Subex ended 3.26 percent higher at Rs 53.85 apiece on the BSE after the company announced that it has been awarded a seven-digit, five-year contract from Dhiraagu, the leading telecom operator of Maldives, to provide its integrated Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management (iRAFM) solution.

VST Tillers Tractors

The share price of VST Tillers Tractors jumped another 18.8 percent to Rs 2,637.40 apiece on the BSE after the company’s Q1FY22 net profit rose 40.7 percent YoY to Rs 24.01 crore while operating revenues increased by 32.39 percent to Rs 193.60 crore as against Rs 146.24 crore during the Q1FY21.

The stock price hit a 52-week high of Rs 2,664.00 apiece intraday.