The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 1,342 points to settle at 76,864, while Nifty tanked 395 points to end at 23,866.
Here’s how analysts read the market pulse:
“Looking ahead, markets are likely to remain cautious as investors await U.S. and domestic inflation data and clearer macro signals before taking fresh directional bets,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments.
US Stocks
Wall Street’s main indexes were mixed on Wednesday as investors assessed a key inflation report and the International Energy Agency’s decision to release an unprecedented amount of crude oil reserves to temper soaring energy prices amid intensifying Middle East tensions.
Energy prices briefly pared gains after the IEA’s 32 member countries agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil and a German official said the U.S. and Japan are expected to be the largest contributors, even as shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz is likely to be halted for a while.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump told media firm Axios that there is “practically nothing left” to target in Iran and that the war there will end soon.
Expectations of higher gasoline costs in anticipation of an escalating war in the Middle East had already started reflecting in consumer prices in February, a Labor Department report showed.Following the data, investors pushed back expectations for a 25-basis-point interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve to October from September earlier, according to LSEG-compiled data.
European Markets
European shares resumed declining on Wednesday as investors weighed the economic fallout from the 12-day Middle East war and digested a slate of corporate updates. The pan-European benchmark STOXX 600 fell 0.7% to 601.84, a day after logging its best day since April 2025.
Tech View
A death cross occurs when the 50DMA cuts the 200DMA from above. If this happens, further rounds of selling pressure could emerge, potentially pushing the Nifty significantly lower
Most active stocks in terms of turnover
HDFC Bank (Rs 3,526 crore), RIL (Rs 3,065), Happiest Minds (Rs 2,861 crore), FACT (Rs 2,204 crore), Jindal Saw (Rs 1,780 crore), Airtel (Rs 1,737 crore) and ICICI Bank (Rs 1,716 crore) were among the most active stocks on BSE in value terms. Higher activity in a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with highest trading turnovers in the day.
Most active stocks in volume terms
Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 39,98,06,526), Jindal Saw (Traded shares: 9,38,42,831), YES Bank (Traded shares: 6,99,22,613), Happiest Minds (Traded shares: 6,60,88,379), Suzlon Energy (Traded shares: 6,41,89,593), Reliance Power (Traded shares: 5,09,16,854) and Ola Electric (Traded shares: 4,71,39,026) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on BSE.
Stocks showing buying interest
Adani Gas, Jindal Saw, FACT, Premier Energies, Astral Poly Tech, Radico Khaitan and Ceat were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.
Stocks seeing selling pressure
Among the names which witnessed significant selling pressure were Apar Industries, Authum Investment, Colgate-Palmolive, Bajaj Finance, TVS Motor, KEI Industries and Redington.
Sentiment meter favours bears
Out of the 4,414 stocks that traded on the BSE on March 11, Wednesday, 1,850 stocks witnessed advances, 2,423 saw declines while 141 stocks remained unchanged.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)