Weak global cues, concerns over India-China tensions, and an unwelcome news on the Covid front dragged the Indian equity markets over half a per cent lower on Wednesday.

The S&P BSE Sensex slid 300 points to 38,060 levels and the Nifty50 index gave up the 11,250-mark. ONGC and Tata Steel (both down 3 per cent) were the top Sensex laggards. On the other hand, Reliance Industries rose 1 per cent after announcing that Silver Lake would invest Rs 7,500 crore in Reliance Retail.

Meanwhile, AstraZeneca Pharma tumbled 13 per cent after the company “voluntarily paused” a randomized clinical trial of its coronavirus vaccine in what it called a routine action after a volunteer developed an unexplained illness.

The trend among the Nifty sectoral indices was dominantly negative, led by Nifty Metal index, down 3 per cent.
 

Results today

A total of 45 companies, including Indiabulls Ventures, and Eveready Industries are scheduled to announce their June quarter earnings today.

Route Mobile IPO

The IPO of Route Mobile opens for public subscription today. The cloud communications service provider proposes to raise Rs 600 crore through the IPO. A price band of Rs 345 to 350 apiece per share has been fixed for the IPO that will conclude on September 11. READ MORE