MUMBAI: Tracking weak global cues, the benchmark indices ended in the negative territory on Wednesday; although they recovered from the intraday low amid buying in Reliance Industries (RIL), Bharti Airtel, and Tata Steel. News that AstraZeneca Pharma has "voluntarily paused" a randomized clinical trial of its coronavirus vaccine after a volunteer developed an unexplained illness, weighed on the investor sentiment.
The S&P BSE Sensex slid 171 points, or 0.45 per cent to settle at 39,194 while the NSE's Nifty50 index ended at 11,278 levels, down 39 points, or 0.35 per cent. India VIX dropped nearly 3 per cent to 22.05 levels.
SBI (down over 4 per cent) ended as the biggest loser on the Sensex while Tata Steel (up 3 per cent) was the top gainer. Of 30 constituents, 12 advanced and the rest 18 declined.
RIL gained over 2.5 per cent to Rs 2,161 on the BSE after the company announced that Silver Lake will invest Rs 7,500 crore into Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), a subsidiary of RIL.
On the other hand, AstraZeneca Pharma tumbled 13 per cent during the day. The stock settled at Rs 4,074, down over 3 per cent.
The trend among the Nifty sectoral indices was largely negative, led by Nifty Bank index, down 2 per cent. On the other hand, Nifty Pharma index was the top gainer - up nearly 2 per cent at 11,304 levels.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap ended 0.28 per cent lower at 14,443 levels while the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended 0.94 per cent lower at 14,302 mark. (IANS)
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