Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty gave up early gains to close in the red on Wednesday, ending two days of increases as bearish global markets weighed on investor sentiment.
However, a recovering rupee and unabated foreign capital inflows helped the indices restrict the losses, traders said.
The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 151.60 points or 0.25 per cent lower at 61,033.55. The index witnessed volatility towards the fag-end and recorded an intra-day high of 61,447.23 and a low of 60,905.15.
On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty fell 45.80 points or 0.25 per cent to end at 18,157.
PowerGrid was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, slipping 4.06 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, ICICI Bank, M&M and Maruti Suzuki.
In contrast, ITC, Dr Reddy's, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HCL Tech, IndusInd Bank and SBI were among the gainers, climbing up to 1.99 per cent.
The market breadth was negative, with 22 of the 30 Sensex counters closing in the red.
Domestic equity markets were closed on Tuesday on account of Guru Nanak Jayanti.
"Markets remained volatile and ended marginally lower, in absence of any major trigger...The majority of sectors traded in line with the benchmark and ended flat to marginally lower. Meanwhile, the broader indices underperformed and lost over half a per cent each.
"The recent market move indicates caution among the participants amid mixed signals from the global front. However, rotational buying across sectors is helping the index to maintain a positive tone. Amid all, we feel the prudent approach is to look for stock-specific opportunities for trading until Nifty regains momentum," said Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said, "A major next trigger could be the US CPI inflation, to be announced tomorrow. Consensus indicates a moderation to 7.9 per cent in October compared to 8.2 per cent in September. A fast slowdown in inflation would provide the fuel for the market to edge higher, the key problem of 2022."
The BSE Midcap index declined by 0.52 per cent while the BSE Smallcap index shed 0.33 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, realty, metal, consumer durable and and healthcare fell the most, while financial services, bank and FMCG were the top gainers.
Global markets were on the backfoot ahead of results of the keenly-watched US mid-term elections.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong closed in the red, while Seoul logged gains.
Stock exchanges in Europe too were trading with losses in mid-session deals.
International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.67 per cent lower at USD 94.72 per barrel.
The rupee appreciated 42 paise to close at 81.50 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in the Indian capital market on Monday, as they bought shares worth Rs 1,948.51 crore, as per exchange data.
