Mumbai: In a volatile trade, the Sensex on Tuesday fell over 50 points to close at 27,440.14 as investors turned cautious and booked profits in banking, IT and auto sector stocks.
Selling was seen mainly in key stocks like HDFC, HDFC Bank, Infosys, ITC, SBI, M&M, Cipla, among others.
Besides, a smart rise in ONGC, TCS, Vedanta, HUL, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, L&T, Hindalco and Tata Motors, capped the fall in the benchmark.
Second-line stocks outperformed the Sensex on good buying by retail investors as their indices -- BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap -- rose by 0.60 percent and 0.08 percent, respectively.
Worries over the remaining fourth quarter results amid a downward bias in Asian markets too weighed negatively on the market sentiment.
The BSE 30-share barometer resumed better and touched a high of 27,603.71 before tumbling back to an intra-day low of 27,338.23, down by over 150 points.
Later, it recovered on firm European opening to settle at 27,440.14, still showing a fall of 50.45 points, or 0.18 percent.
Yesterday, the Sensex had spurted by 479.28 points, or 1.77 percent.
Similarly, the 50-issue CNX Nifty of the NSE also gyrated in a range of 8,355.65 and 8,280.60 before concluding slightly lower by 7.15 points, or 0.09 percent, at 8,324.80.
However, metal stocks were in the limelight on good demand from China and its index was the top gainer among the sectoral indices, rising by 2.86 percent.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 60.53 crore yesterday, as per provisional data available with stock exchanges.
The Shanghai Composite index fell sharply by 4.06 percent as media reports of crackdown on margin financing added to already existing worries about the slowing Chinese economy and the prospect of new initial public offerings sucking liquidity out of the market.
Besides, other indices like Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan fell by 0.25 percent to 1.31 percent.
Japanese and South Korean stock markets remained closed today.
European markets were trading higher as key indices in France, Germany and UK firmed up by 0.56 percent to 0.77 percent.
Out of the 30-share Sensex pack, 16 scrips ended lower while 14 finished higher.
Major losers were M&M (2.27 percent), HDFC (1.88 percent), SBI (1.86 percent), Cipla (1.71 percent), Bajaj Auto (1.45 percent), Infosys (1.38 percent), HDFC Bank (1.35 percent), Coal India (1.35 percent), Tata Power (1.30 percent), Hero MotoCorp (1.19 percent), NTPC (1.18 percent) and ITC (1.05 percent).
However, SSLT rose by 6.64 percent, followed by Tata Steel (4.95 percent), Hindalco (4.65 percent), ONGC (4.35 percent), HUL (2.19 percent), TCS (1.62 percent), Gail India (1.57 percent) and Sun Pharma (1.26 percent).
Among the S&P BSE indices, Power fell by 0.84 percent and Consumer Durables by 0.60 percent while Oil & Gas rose by 0.95 percent, Realty by 0.93 percent and Healthcare by 0.52 percent.
The market breadth remained more or less positive as 1,375 stocks ended with gains, 1,370 closed with losses while 116 ruled steady.
The total turnover rose to Rs 3,147.62 crore as against Rs 3,079.92 crore yesterday.
