The trends on Gift Nifty also indicate a tepid start for the Indian benchmark index. The Gift Nifty was trading around 23,770 level, a discount of nearly 25 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close.

Motital Oswal Financial Services remains optimistic about India's growth story in the medium to long run. It remains biased towards large-caps with a 76% allocation. Add Shriram finance: To capitalize on its diversified AUM mix, enhanced cross-selling opportunities

Selling pressure returned to the Indian stock markets on Wednesday, with both indices declining soon after opening with marginal gains. The Nifty 50 index opened at 23,746.65 points with a gain of 38.

On January 8, strong backing from Reliance Industries prevented major indices from significant declines. Oil and gas stocks surged due to rising crude prices, while support from the IT sector and ITC share rebounds helped the indices recover to end the session flat.

Indian benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex started the trading session on a weak note on Wednesday, impacted by a sharp decline in IT and metal stocks. However, gains in pharma and energy stocks helped offset the losses to some extent.

Adani Ports, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank and Reliance Industries gained 1.3-1.6 per cent. Tata Motors Ltd, ICICI Bank Ltd, Power Grid, Tata Steel and UltraTech Cement also gained over 1 per cent each.

Sensex and Nifty 50 fell over a percent each amid heavy selling across the board. Broader markets also reeled under selling pressure as the Nifty Midcap 100 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 indices declined over 27% each.