At 14:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 460.3 points or 0.77% to 58,950.78. The Nifty 50 index lost 113.55 points or 0.65% to 17,337.35.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.14% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.05%.

The market breadth was almost even. On the BSE, 1,564 shares rose and 1,845 shares fell. A total of 146 shares were unchanged.

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.

Numbers to track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper advanced to 7.442 from 7.434 in previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.5575, compared with its close of 82.49 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2023 settlement lost 0.06% to Rs 55,795.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.20% to 104.70.

The United States 10-year bond yield jumped 0.95% to 4.034.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2023 settlement rose 60 cents or 0.72% to $84.05 a barrel.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Financial Services index fell 0.73% to 17,968.55. The index rose 0.62% in the past trading session.

Axis Bank (down 2.07%), ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company (down 1.95%), SBI Life Insurance Company (down 1.45%), Shriram Finance (down 1.43%), Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company (down 1.42%), HDFC Life Insurance Company (down 1.23%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 1.11%), ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company (down 0.98%), Bajaj Finance (down 0.98%) and HDFC Bank (down 0.94%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Kilburn Engineering hit an upper circuit of 5% after the company announced that it has received orders totaling Rs 82.74 crore since 1 February 2023.

Anant Raj surged 4.40% after the company announced that its board will meet on Saturday, 4 March 2023, to consider the fund raising proposal.

KNR Constructions rose 1.59% after the company received letter of acceptance (LoA) for development of greenfield highway project in Andhra Pradesh. The bid cost of project is Rs 665 crore. The completion period of project is 24 months and operation period is 15 years from commercial operation date (COD).