Equities continued to slide on the stock markets — reflecting the downbeat mood in the market as technology stocks wilt in the heat of weak guidance and the tumble in Q4 margins.

The big kicker for the markets will be on Friday when Reliance Industries comes out with Q4 results — and ICICI Bank on Saturday.

On Wednesday, the big losers were Infosys, HCL Tech, Asian Paints, Wipro, Hindustan Unilever, TCS, Bajaj Finserv, ITC and ICICI Bank.

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined for the third day on Wednesday amid weak global trends and FII outflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex closed lower 159.21 points or 0.27 per cent at 59567.80 as 21 of its components ended in the red.

During the day, the index fell 274.29 points or 0.45 per cent to 59452.72.The broader Nifty dipped 41.40 points or 0.23 per cent to settle at 17618.75 with 31 of its shares closing with losses.

Analysts said stock markets are in a consolidation phase after a record nine-day winning run to April 13 which saw the benchmark Nifty soaring 5.7 per cent and Sensex 4.73 per cent.

The Sensex and Nifty have corrected around 1.4 per cent in the three straight sessions of losses to Wednesday following poor commentary by major IT companies.

Among the Sensex firms, HCL Technologies fell the most by 2.4 per cent. IndusInd Bank (2.35 per cent), Infosys (2.28 per cent) and Wipro (1.8 per cent) were among the major laggards.

Axis Bank was the lead Sensex gainer, rising 1.05 per cent.

“The dark clouds of weak Q4 numbers are haunting the domestic market leading to a consecutive third fall in the week. IT stocks continued their selling spree ahead of the release of earnings from other tech majors.