At 10:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 312.02 points or 0.53% to 59,099.06. The Nifty 50 index lost 77.20 points or 0.44% to 17,373.70.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.02% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.15%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,675 shares rose and 1,380 shares fell. A total of 154 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 424.88 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,498.66 crore in the Indian equity market on 1 March 2023, provisional data showed.

The National Stock Exchange on Wednesday said it has received approval from markets regulator Sebi to launch the rupee-denominated NYMEX WTI crude oil and natural gas futures contracts in its commodity derivatives segment. The launch date for these contracts will be announced soon, NSE said in a release.

The addition of these contracts will expand NSE's product offering in the energy basket as well as its overall commodity segment. These contracts are designed to provide the market participants with a more efficient way to manage their price risk, the release said.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index declined 1.50% to 29,645.80. The index rose 1.46% in the past trading session.

L&T Technology Services (down 2.01%), Tata Consultancy Services (down 1.83%), LTI Mindtree (down 1.79%), Mphasis (down 1.69%), Tech Mahindra (down 1.59%), Infosys (down 1.57%), Coforge (down 1.23%), Persistent Systems (down 0.86%), Wipro (down 0.7%) and HCL Technologies (down 0.53%) slipped.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Imagicaaworld Entertainment jumped 3.26%. The company which operates Imagicaa – Theme Park, Water Park, Snow Park and a family hotel Novotel Imagicaa Khopoli, announced the launch of its waterpark, Aquamagicaa, in Surat, Gujarat from 1 March 2023. The Aquamagicaa water park is open to guests from 1 March 2023.

Hero MotoCorp rose 1.30%. The auto major said that it had sold 394,460 units of motorcycles and scooters in February 2023, recording 10% growth over the corresponding month of the previous year (February 2022), when the company had sold 358,254 units.

Dreamfolks Services fell 0.30%. The company said that its board has approved the proposal to acquire 60% equity shares of Vidsur Golf for an aggregate cash consideration of Rs 1.50 crore.