Indian benchmarks slipped into negative zone in the afternoon session on Wednesday led by selling witnessed in Power and FMCG stocks. Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, and Bajaj Auto were the top gainers on the index, while Vedanta (down 2 per cent) was the biggest loser. On the NSE, the Nifty50 index was ruling at 11,453.55 levels.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee has recovered from the intraday low but trading marginally lower at 71.57 per dollar.

Among individual shares, shares of Jain Irrigation Systems (JISL) slipped 5% intraday as Fitch Ratings downgraded its rating after the company defaulted on bank loans.

At 14:23 hours, the 30-share benchmark index was trading at 38496.4 down by -9.69 points or by -0.03 per cent, while the then NSE Nifty was at 11436.55 up by 8.25 points or by 0.07 per cent.

The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 38666.38 and intraday low of 38416.67 The NSE Nifty touched intraday high of 11481.05 and intraday low of 11411.1.

The top gainers of the BSE Sensex pack were Bajaj Finance Ltd. (Rs. 3997.40,+3.02%), Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd. (Rs. 2037.80,+1.22%), HCL Technologies Ltd. (Rs. 1097.30,+1.22%), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (Rs. 728.75,+1.20%), Infosys Ltd. (Rs. 774.50,+0.87%), among others.

The top losers of the BSE Sensex pack were Hero MotoCorp Ltd. (Rs. 2615.65,-2.26%), Vedanta Ltd. (Rs. 150.00,-2.25%), Asian Paints Ltd. (Rs. 1764.95,-2.08%), Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (Rs. 197.55,-1.89%), NTPC Ltd. (Rs. 117.30,-1.80%), among others.

Among the sectors, Realty index was at 1973.19 up by 21.96 points or by 1.13%. Sunteck Realty Ltd. (Rs. 431.00,+2.68%), DLF Ltd. (Rs. 158.80,+1.73%), Sobha Ltd. (Rs. 453.25,+1.60%), Godrej Industries Ltd. (Rs. 1000.20,+1.54%), Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd. (Rs. 442.55,+1.08%),.

On the flip side, Power index was at 1915.62 down by -23.27 points or by -1.2%. Tata Power Company Ltd. (Rs. 58.15,-2.60%), Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (Rs. 41.80,-2.22%), Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (Rs. 197.60,-1.86%), NTPC Ltd. (Rs. 117.45,-1.67%), Thermax Ltd. (Rs. 1097.00,-1.53%),.

The Market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was weak. On BSE out of total shares traded 2721, shares advanced were 1200 while 1297 shares declined and 224 were unchanged.