Weak start in the stock market; Sensex slipped 100 points, Nifty reached close to 24650

Among the 30 Sensex companies, UltraTech Cement, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, Power Grid, and Axis Bank were among the laggards.

Shares of Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel, Nestle India, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finserv, and Adani Ports were trading lower on Wednesday. In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Seoul were trading lower on Wednesday. US markets closed lower on Tuesday.

According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) again turned sellers on Tuesday and sold shares worth Rs 1,457.96 crore. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 2,252.10 crore on Tuesday.

VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said, "The trend of FIIs selling and DIIs buying continues. However, the fall in the dollar index is likely to curb the trend of FIIs withdrawing. However, large FII investments will happen only when the valuations of Indian stocks are at the right level, but in the current context of domestic flows, this does not seem possible."

Vijayakumar said that despite the high valuations, the market sentiment remains bullish. Global oil benchmark Brent crude fell 0.11 percent to $ 77.09 per barrel. On Wednesday, the rupee fell 7 paise to 83.84 against the US dollar in early trading. Earlier on Tuesday, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 378.18 points, or 0.47 percent, to close at 80,802.86. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty rose 126.20 points, or 0.51 percent, to 24,698.85, registering a gain for the fourth consecutive session.