Benchmark indices on Wednesday halted a seven-day winning streak amid broad-based selling across the market.

Sensex opened on a strong note, touching an intraday high of 78,167.87; however, selling pressure in select heavyweight stocks led to a sharp decline. Nifty initially posted a marginal uptick but later reversed course and slipped below the crucial 23,500 mark.

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Sensex closed with a loss of 729 points, or 0.93%, at 77,288.50, while the Nifty 50 settled 182 points, or 0.77%, lower at 23,486.85.

During the trading session, the Nifty reached a high of 23,736.5 and a low of 23,451.7, while the Sensex traded within a range of 78,167.87 and 77,194.22.

BSE Smallcap index underperformed with a loss of 1.45%, while the Midcap index closed 0.67% lower.

The overall market capitalisation of firms listed on the BSE dropped to nearly Rs 411 lakh crore from Rs 415 lakh crore in the previous session.

Among the sectors, Nifty Media was down 2.40%, ending as the top loser among sectoral indices. Realty, Healthcare, and Oil & Gas indices dropped over a per cent each.

Nifty Bank declined 0.77%, while PSU Bank and Private Bank dropped 1.19% and 0.90%, respectively.

On Nifty, the top gainers were Indusind Bank (2.86%), Trent (2.64%), HCL Technologies (0.52%), Hero Motocorp (0.50%), and Bharti Airtel (0.47%).

On the losing side were NTPC (3.35%), Tech Mahindra (2.69%), Cipla (2.32%), Bajaj Finance (2.22%), and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (2.19%).

Copper stocks such as Hindustan Copper, Hindalco Industries, and Vedanta saw gains in the opening session even as US President Donald Trump suggested that the country would impose tariffs on copper imports within several weeks, earlier than the timeline previously mentioned.

March marked the first instance in six months of retail investors turning net sellers of equities, primarily booking profits. The sell-off, most significant in 15 months, saw outflows hit Rs 10,500 crore—the first net selling since September 2024 and the steepest since December 2023.

Concerns over the imposition of Trump’s tariffs from April 2, weakness in the Indian rupee, and a rise in oil prices were some factors that sparked profit booking in the market.