A sharp selloff in the last hour of trade weighed on equity benchmarks on Wednesday, with the Nifty giving up 11,700-mark. Weakness among giant index names such as Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, and Infosys, among others, dragged the market lower as well.

Banks had a negative impact on the market, along with energy stocks, infra, IT and pharmaceutical names. However, PSU banks and metals tried to offset the losses, but bulls had the tide in their favour.

However, there was a strong upmove in the broader markets, with the Nifty Midcap index ending just around half a percent higher. The index had managed to soar a percent during the day’s trade.

Rise in crude oil prices due to withholding of supply by Iran as well as a depreciating rupee too added to the negative sentiment. The Indian currency managed to fall to a fresh record low of 70.57 per US dollar. Analysts that Moneycontrol spoke to attributed this to the month-end dollar demand by oil companies.

“As such, all other factors are supportive of the currency. It could see appreciation after one or two days once this demand is out of the market,” Rushabh Maru, Research Analyst at Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers told Moneycontrol. For the very short term, he expects support to be around 70.20/USD and resistance around 70.75/USD.

The day began on a flat note, with some weakness seen in banks. Throughout the day, equities traded flat, but a selloff in index heavyweights such as RIL and HDFC Bank, among others, dragged them lower.

At the close of market hours, the Sensex closed 173.70 points or 0.45% lower at 38722.93, while the Nifty fell 46.60 points or 0.40% at 11691.90\. The market breadth is negative as 1,275 shares advanced, 1,415 shares declined, while 172 shares were unchanged.

ONGC, SBI, Bajaj Finance and UPL are the top gainers, while Coal India, RIL and Power Grid have lost the most.