Equity benchmark indices sucked up early morning gains on Thursday and ended lower for the third consecutive trading session amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.

The Bombay Stock Exchange S & P Sensex closed 38 points lower at 35,867 while the National Stock Exchange Nifty 50 closed 14 points down at 10,793.

Among prominent losers were Hero Motorcorp, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Axis Bank, Mahindra and Mahindra, and Cipla. However, ONGC, Tata Motors, Vedanta, Sun Pharma and Indian Oil gained some ground.

Meanwhile, Asian markets were all in the red as US President Donald Trump refused a nuclear deal at the summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un following the latter's unacceptable demands to lift US-led sanctions by the United Nations. The failure of two days of talks in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi dampened investor sentiment.

There were also doubts over talks between the United States and China on sticky tariff issues. On Wednesday, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said much work is still needed to work out a trade agreement, including how the pact will be enforced.

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