Equity benchmarks declined for the second consecutive session on Wednesday, with the Sensex falling 239 points, weighed down by heavy losses in FMCG major ITC following a large stake sale by BAT Plc.

Weak cues from global markets, profit booking in select heavyweight stocks, and cautious investor sentiment ahead of key macroeconomic data also contributed to the negative trend.

The 30-share benchmark index ended at 81312.32 down by -239.31 points or by -0.29 % and then NSE Nifty was at 24752.45 down by -73.75 points or by -0.3 %.

Sensex touched intraday high of 81613.36 and intraday low of 81244.02 The NSE Nifty touched intraday high of 24864.25 and intraday low of 24737.05

The top gainers of the BSE Sensex pack were Bajaj Finance Ltd. (Rs. 9270.80,+1.07%), Bharti Airtel Ltd. (Rs. 1856.05,+0.65%), ICICI Bank Ltd. (Rs. 1453.75,+0.46%), Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd. (Rs. 1410.90,+0.46%), HCL Technologies Ltd. (Rs. 1660.00,+0.45%), among others.

The top losers of the BSE Sensex pack were ITC Ltd. (Rs. 420.10,-3.18%), IndusInd Bank Ltd. (Rs. 804.75,-1.99%), Nestle India Ltd. (Rs. 2418.45,-1.78%), UltraTech Cement Ltd. (Rs. 11236.55,-1.62%), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (Rs. 2997.05,-1.41%), among others.

PSU index was at 19679.76 up by 73.92 points or by 0.38%. IFCI Ltd. (Rs. 70.18,+15.03%), ITI Ltd. (Rs. 340.00,+10.00%), MMTC Ltd. (Rs. 69.40,+8.51%), Life Insurance Corporation of India (Rs. 942.55,+8.21%), Mangalore Refinery And Petrochemicals Ltd. (Rs. 148.90,+5.83%),.

FMCG index was at 20411.89 down by -275.96 points or by -1.33%. Gulshan Polyols Ltd. (Rs. 184.60,-5.02%), Tasty Bite Eatables Ltd. (Rs. 10470.00,-4.37%), CCL Products India Ltd. (Rs. 815.20,-3.21%), ITC Ltd. (Rs. 420.10,-3.18%), Honasa Consumer Ltd. (Rs. 310.00,-2.42%),.

The Market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was weak. On BSE out of total shares traded 4305 , shares advanced were 2145 while 1980 shares declined and 180 were unchanged.