Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 19 (ANI): Indian benchmark equity indices ended lower on Wednesday, with the BSE Sensex falling 325.78 points and the NSE Nifty declining 0.32 per cent, as broad-based selling amid weakness across Asian markets and elevated crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiment.

At the time of filing this report, Brent crude was trading at USD 91.75 per barrel, up 0.72 per cent, while Crude oil was trading at USD 85.79 per barrel, up 0.98 per cent.

The BSE Sensex closed at 76,909.68, down by 325.78 points or 0.42 per cent, while the NSE Nifty 50 settled at 24,078.30, falling marginally by 76.60 points or 0.32 per cent.

Among other Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 3.19 per cent to close at 65,374.00, South Korea's KOSPI declined 6.16 per cent to 6,471.17, Taiwan Weighted Index plunged 1.32 per cent to 44,719.35, and Jakarta Composite slipped 0.86 per cent to 6,394.12. Singapore's Straits Times declined 0.13 per cent to 5,694.24, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 0.04 per cent to 25,481.00.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said, 'Markets turned cautious ahead of the release of the US FOMC minutes, as investors remained concerned that the Federal Reserve's battle against inflation may continue.' He added that the lack of a diplomatic resolution following the end of the US-Iran ceasefire kept crude oil prices and bond yields elevated, strengthening risk-off sentiment.

'Reflecting weakness across Asian markets, Indian equities saw broad-based selling, though IT stocks outperformed on value buying and support from a weaker rupee,' Nair said. As the Q1FY27 earnings season draws to a close, he said corporate results had generally exceeded expectations, reinforcing confidence in earnings resilience.

However, with temporary market tailwinds fading, 'the next phase of market performance will depend largely on the stability of crude oil supply chains.'

Among the sectoral indices on the NSE, Nifty IT rose 0.60 per cent. On the losing side, Nifty Media declined 1.09 per cent, Nifty Chemicals fell 1.06 per cent, while Nifty FMCG and Nifty Oil & Gas declined 0.70 per cent each. Nifty Auto fell 0.50 per cent, Nifty Realty declined 0.42 per cent and Nifty Pharma slipped 0.21 per cent.

Among the Nifty stocks, HCL Technologies emerged as the top gainer, rising 1.85 per cent, followed by Eternal, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank and JSW Steel. Other gainers included Wipro, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, SBI Life Insurance and Titan Company.

Among the laggards, Power Grid Corporation was the top loser, falling 1.98 per cent, followed by Max Healthcare Institute, Coal India, Jio Financial Services and Bajaj Finance. ITC, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and Tata Steel were among the other major losers. (ANI)