Closing Bell: Market ends lower for the sixth day, Nifty holds 17000

The Indian market closed lower on the sixth straight session on Wednesday as investors focussed on rising geopolitical tensions on account of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the sanctions.

The Indian market closed lower on the sixth straight session on Wednesday as investors focussed on rising geopolitical tensions on account of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the sanctions. 

Also, the rising oil prices and rupee falling remains a concern. On the sectoral front, Realty, Consumer Durables and PSU Bank remained the leading sectors like Auto and Financial Services witnessed maximum selling pressure. 

The BSE Sensex after opening in positive had a volatile session and closed marginally lower at 57,232.06 levels, down by 68 points. The Sensex MidCap index has closed in green today, up by 119 points and ended the day at 23,536.72 levels. Similarly, the BSE SmallCap has increased by 227 points and stood at 26,946.34 at day end. 

The Nifty 50 index similarly, ended lower by 38 points and closed at 17,054.15 levels. Bank Nifty on the other hand has fallen by merely 7 points and ended the day at 37,364.25. The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, went up by 1.08 per cent to 28.05 levels. 

The top gainers on BSE Sensex exchange were Bajaj Finance, UltraTech Cement, Kotak Bank, Infosys, Asian Paints, and ITC. On the other hand, the top losers were NPTC, Larsen & Toubro, Nestle India, and ICICI Bank. 

The total stocks traded today were 3460 out of which 2197 advanced and 1168 stocks declined, 96 stocks were unchanged. Number of stocks that were locked in the upper circuit are 76 and 56 stocks were locked in lower circuit today. The number of stocks that have made a 52-week high are 13 and 7 stocks made a 52-week low today.