Sensex settled 69 points lower at 57,232 levels while Nifty shut shop at 17,063, down 29 points

On the downside, NTPC, L&T, Bajaj Finserv, Nestle India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, and RIL were the biggest laggards, sliding between 0.6 per cent and 1.4 per cent.

The broader markets, however, outperformed the frontline indices with the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices ending up to 1 per cent higher.

Among individual stocks, shares of Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances (Butterfly) hit a record high of Rs 1,419 after Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals made an open offer to acquire 26 per cent equity stake (4.65 million shares) of the company at Rs 1,433.90 per share.

That apart, shares of Adani Wilmar freezed at 10 per cent upper circuit at Rs 345.80 on the BSE with only buyers seen on the counter. The stock of the Adani Group edible oil major had closed at Rs 314.40 on Tuesday, correcting 25 per cent from its record high level of Rs 419.90 on February 11, 2022.

On the flipside, shares of Dhani Services continued to reel under pressure, freezing at 10 per cent lower circuit for a third straight day. The shares were quoting at down limit of Rs 74.50 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday after foreign portfolio investor (FPI) sold shares of the company via open market.

Overall, over 2,100 stocks advanced on the BSE while 1,169 stocks declined. Over 90 stocks settled unchanged on thee BSE.

Sectorally, the Nifty Auto and Financial Services indices ended 0.2 per cent down each, and the Nifty IT index slipped 0.04 per cent. On the upside, thee Nifty Realty index added 3 per cent on the NSE today.