On yet another day of volatile trade, a benchmark index of Indian equities market closed Wednesday's trade 62.52 points or 0.23 percent down.
Profit booking was observed in oil and gas capital goods, fast moving consumer goods, consumer durables, bank and healthcare. Stocks of these sectors declined.
However, healthy buying was observed in information technology (IT) and technology, entertainment and media (TECK) sectors.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 26,681.47 points, closed at 26,567.99 points, down 62.52 points or 0.23 percent from the previous day's close at 26,630.51 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 26,683.70 points and a low of 26,548.22 points in the intraday.
The S&P oil and gas index plummeted by 166.30 points, capital goods index was down 102.29 points, followed by FMCG index which was lower by 96.28 points, consumer durables index fell 96.28 points, healthcare index was down 53.03 points.
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However, IT index was up 207.81 points and TECK index gained by 80.21 points.
The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too closed in negative territory. It was down 19.25 points or 0.24 percent.
The major Sensex gainers were: Wipro, up 3.22 percent at Rs.615.55; Infosys, up 2.66 percent at Rs.3,847.20; Mahindra and Mahindra, up 2.07 percent at Rs.1,390.55; Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), up 1.37 percent at Rs.2,775.70; and Hero MotoCorp, up 1.30 percent at Rs.2,878.90.
The losers were: Maruti, down 3.11 percent at Rs.2,968.90; Tata Power, down 2.47 percent at Rs.80.95; Tata Steel, down 2.31 percent at Rs.448.70; Gail, down 2.27 percent at Rs.438.65; and Reliance Industries, down 1.96 percent at Rs.926.80.
Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.56 percent down and Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1.28 percent. However, China's Shanghai Composite Index was higher by 0.26 percent.
In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was trading down 0.77 percent down. Germany's DAX Index was lower by 0.34 percent, and the French CAC 40 Index slipped by 0.73 percent at the closing bell here.