Indian equity benchmarks suffered deep losses on Tuesday, halting a winning run that lasted for six back-to-back sessions. Losses in metal, IT, oil & gas and select financial shares pulled the headline indices lower, though gains in auto stocks lent some support.

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NSE

Globally, investors awaited were on the outcome of major central bank meetings, and closely tracked updates on the Russia-Ukraine war and rising COVID cases in China.

The 30-scrip Sensex index fell 709.2 points or 1.3 percent to end at 55,776.9 and the broader Nifty50 benchmark settled at 16,663, down 208.3 points or 1.2 percent from its previous close. On Monday, both gauges had reached three-month closing highs.

Tata Steel, Hindalco, ONGC, Coal India, JSW Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Tech Mahindra -- closing between 2.8 percent and 5.2 percent lower for the day -- were the worst hit among the 36 laggards in the Nifty50 pack.

On the other hand, Tata Consumer, Mahindra & Mahindra, Cipla, Shree Cement and Maruti Suzuki -- rising between 1.3 percent and 3.7 percent -- were the top blue-chip gainers.

Reliance Industries, Infosys, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the biggest drags for both main indices.

The India VIX -- also known as the fear index -- finished the day up 4.1 percent at 26.7, having spiked as much as 7.2 percent during the session.

"New financial and trade sanctions on Russia along with the suspension of gas imports is a setback for the market sentiment, which was improving in anticipation of a truce... The Indian market was outperforming due to easing commodity prices. World markets are also lower ahead of the Fed meet," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Metal stocks plunged as underlying commodity prices retreated from recent peaks. The Nifty Metal was the top loser among NSE's sectoral indices, finishing the day 4.1 percent lower -- its biggest fall since February 24.

The Nifty Bank dropped 0.8 percent.

ONGC and Oil India remained under pressure, ending 4.7 percent and 1.2 percent lower respectively, as benchmark crude oil rates hit a two-week low.

Paytm parent One97 Communications' shares dropped 12.3 percent to a record closing low of Rs 592.4.

Broader markets also bore the brunt of overall weakness in the Street. The Nifty Midcap fell 0.8 percent for the day. Its smallcap counterpart fell 1.4 percent.

In the midcap and smallcap segments, Balrampur Chini, Sharda Cropchem, FACT and Wockhardt -- falling around 6-7 percent -- were among the top losers. Linde, Supreme Petro, Polyplex, and Minda -- rising 7-11 percent -- were among the top gainers.

Overall market breadth was in favour of the bears, with an advance-decline ratio of 3:7 as 608 stocks rose against 1,462 that fell on NSE.

Global markets

European shares began the day deep in the red taking negative cues from most Asian markets, amid concerns about surging COVID cases in China. Nervousness also persisted among investors ahead of a widely expected hike in pandemic-era interest rates in the US this week.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 1.8 percent in early hours.

S&P 500 futures were down 0.3 percent, suggesting a negative opening ahead on Wall Street.

Technical view

The fall in the 50-scrip index from close to crucial resistance at 16,800-17,000 hints at further correction in the short term, according to Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities.

"The overall chart pattern highlights signals the chances of a higher bottom formation around 16,400-16,250 levels in the next few sessions before another round of upmove," he said.

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