At close, the Sensex was down 153.13 points or 0.29% at 52,693.57, and the Nifty was down 42.30 points or 0.27% at 15,732.10, as investors anticipated aggressive rate hikes by central banks, including the US Federal Reserve, to tame multi-year high inflation. Bajaj Auto was the worst-performing Sensex stock, falling 4.71%, followed by IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, and Reliance Industries. Up with gains were NTPC, Ultratech Cement, Bharti Airtel, and M&M. About 1506 shares have advanced, 1730 shares declined, and 132 shares are unchanged. IT, metals, and pharma stocks ended higher in the range of 0.15 percent to 0.9 percent on the NSE. In the broader markets, the Nifty SmallCap index fell 0.23 percent, while the Nifty midcap index shed 0.14 percent. While India's VIX fell 2.15% and gave up 22 levels.