Adani Enterprises settled 6 per cent down, Adani Wilmar ended 5 per cent lower, while Adani Ports & SEZ, Adani Power and ACC shed 2 per cent each, Domestic equity markets snapped the three-day winning run and settled lower on Wednesday amid the negative global cues. The concerns over the US debt ceiling weighed on the market sentiments and engulfed the early gains as the session progressed. Hawkish of the US Fed also kept the traders on tenterhooks. For the day, BSE Sensex settled 208.01 points, or 0.34 per cent lower, at 61,773.78, while NSE's Nifty50 dropped 62.60 points, or 0.34 per cent, to end the day at 18,285.40 levels. Broader markets outperformed the headline peers as BSE midcap and smallcap indices ended marginally higher. Fear gauge India VIX jumped more than 4 per cent to 13.11-level. Markets traded volatile and settled marginally lower, taking a breather after the recent up move. Most sectors traded in sync with the trend and ended lower wherein metal, banking and financials were among the top losers. The outperformance continued from the broader front as they managed to end flat to marginally in the green, said Ajit Mishra, VP - Technical Research at Religare Broking. "With the major earnings behind us, participants are eyeing global markets for cues but they’re not offering any clarity as of now. In between, sectors like banking and financials, which have considerable weight in the index, are largely dominating the move. While the tone is still positive, we feel participants should limit positions and wait for further clarity," he said. On a sectoral front, the Nifty Metal index was the biggest laggard, dropping about 2 per cent. Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Bank dropped about a per cent each. Among the gainers, Nifty Pharma and Consumer Durable indices added about 2 per cent each, followed by Healthcare and Media indices. Adani Group stocks saw profit booking during the session. Adani Enterprises settled 6 per cent down, while Adani Wilmar ended 5 per cent lower. Adani Ports & SEZ, Adani Power and ACC shed 2 per cent each, while Ambuja Cement and Adani Green Energy were also in red as they closed. However, Adani Total Gas, Adani Transmission and NDTV ended 5 per cent up. Barring the Adani Group stocks, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC and JSW Steel were the biggest laggards on the Nifty50 index. Among the gainers, Sun Pharma jumped 2 per cent, followed by Dr Reddy's Labs, ITC and IndusInd Bank, each rising over a per cent. "The domestic market experienced a short-lived rally that was overshadowed by subdued global market sentiment. US Treasury yields rose due to concerns over stalled US debt ceiling talks and hawkish comments from US Fed officials, which reduced the chances of a rate pause, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. A total of 3,602 shares were traded on BSE on Wednesday, of which 1,796 settled with cuts. 1,673 stocks ended the session lower while 133 shares remained unchanged. A total of 14 shares hit their upper circuit, whereas six shares tested the lower circuit levels for the day. Nifty tried to cross and sustain above 18400 levels, but its efforts turned out to be futile and closed about 0.3 percent lower. The index has formed gravestone doji patterns on daily charts and a move below 18260 can result in a further pressure till 18200-18180 levels tomorrow, said Gaurav Bissa, Vice President at InCred Equities.