The Sensex broke its four-day winning streak to close over 73 points lower at 35,103 on Thursday as investors chose to trim their positions on weak global cues ahead of talks between China and the US on their trade dispute. Unabated capital outflows by foreign funds and lower-than-expected quarterly numbers by InterGlobe Aviation and some other companies too added to the caution, brokers said.
Investors kept an eye on high-level talks between China and the US on trade in Beijing today.
Back home, counters such as realty, capital goods, IT, teck, infrastructure, FMCG, consumer durables, oil and gas and auto suffered as participants pulled money off the table.
After opening higher, the 30-share Sensex quickly slipped into the red largely in line with weak Asian cues and hit a low of 35,020.08 before settling at 35,103.14, still down by 73.28 points, or 0.21 per cent.
The index had surged 675.15 points in the past four sessions, spurred by sustained buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) and encouraging quarterly earnings by some companies.
The 50-share NSE Nifty slipped below the 10,700-mark and finished at 10,679.65-down 38.40 points, or 0.36 per cent. During the day, it shuttled between 10,720.60 and 10,647.45.
Meanwhile, on a net basis, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 525.93 crore, while DIIs bought shares to the tune of Rs 165.84 crore in yesterday's trade, provisional data showed.
Market breadth was negative with 817 stocks closing higher against 1848 ending in the red on BSE.
Global markets
World stock markets were mixed on Thursday as investors analyzed the Fed's decision to keep interest rates unchanged and kept an eye out for developments from China-U.S. trade talks in Beijing.
European shares slipped in early trading. France's CAC 40 lost 0.3 percent to 5,155.00 and Germany's DAX fell 0.2 percent to 12,772.48. Britain's FTSE 100 dipped 0.1 percent to 7,539.62. Wall Street was poised to open higher. Dow futures added 0.2 percent to 23,871.00 and broader S&P 500 futures advanced 0.3 percent to 2,633.60.
Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index dropped 1.2 percent to close at 30,313.37 and South Korea's Kospi dipped 0.7 percent to end at 2,487.25. The Shanghai Composite index rose 0.6 percent to 3,100.86 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.8 percent to 6,098.30. Taiwan shares fell and Southeast Asian indexes were mostly lower. Japan's markets were closed for a holiday.