Nifty, Sensex End Little Changed Amid Volatility; Midcap Hits Record High: Market Wrap

India's benchmark indices ended little changed amid volatility on Wednesday, ahead of the Fed Chair's speech at the Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy Conference.

However, the Nifty Midcap 150 hit a fresh lifetime high during the day and settled higher for the eighth day in a row. The Nifty Smallcap 250 closed with gains for the ninth day in a row.

The NSE Nifty settled 18.65 points, or 0.083%, lower at 22,434.65, and the S&P BSE Sensex declined 27.09 points, or 0.037%, to end at 73,876.82.

Market participants will closely monitor Powell's comments to get fresh cues about the U.S. central bank's policy outlook in the backdrop of robust economic data and high inflation weighing on rate cut expectations.

The Nifty 50 fell to an intraday low of 22,346 and the Sensex touched a low of 73,540.27 on Wednesday.

"Weak Asian and U.S. market cues coupled with caution ahead of the RBI's monetary policy announcement on Friday saw domestic equities end flattish with a negative bias. Surging crude oil prices and an uptick in US bond yields are making investors nervous, with FIIs offloading local shares further dampening the sentiment,” Prashanth Tapse, senior vice president research, Mehta Equities Ltd.

Reliance Industries Ltd., Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Nestle India Ltd., and ICICI Bank Ltd. contributed to the gains in Nifty.

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd., NTPC Ltd., and Bajaj Finance Ltd. weighed on the index.

On NSE, five sectors advanced, three remained flat, and four declined. The NSE Nifty Realty fell the most among peers, while the NSE Nifty PSU Bank became the top performing sector.

Broader markets outperformed benchmark indices, with the S&P BSE Midcap ending with 0.6% gains and the S&P BSE Smallcap closing 1.18% higher on Wednesday.

The Nifty Midcap 150 hit a lifetime high during the day and settled higher for the eight day in a row. The Nifty Smallcap 250 ended higher for nineth day in a row.

On BSE, 12 sectors advanced, and eight declined. The S&P BSE Realty index was the worst performing sector, while the S&P BSE Utilities was the top performing sector.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of the buyers. Around 2,803 stocks advanced, 1,051 stocks declined, and 111 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.