Financial markets across the world continued to reel under panic sell-off on jitters over political uncertainties in Greece, which fuelled fears of renewed eurozone debt crisis and economic slowdown.
Trading commenced on a subdued note on the backdrop of global bearishness and intense selling in frontline shares kept the market under pressure. Low-level buying and hectic short-covering in FMCG counters, along with technology scrips, capped the fall to some extent in early trade.
The late morning session witnessed a rebound, taking the key index above the 5,000 mark for a brief period, before it met with heavy resistance and turned choppy and continued to remain so till the end.
Banking, oil & gas, metal and auto shares bore the brunt of selling.
The 50-share index oscillated between a high of 5,016.25 and a low of 4,956.45 before closing at 4,974.80, a loss of 25.15 points, or 0.50 per cent, over its last close.
JP Associates, SAIL, Grasim, DLF, Sterlite Industries, Sesa Goa, Kotak Bank, Cairn, Jindal Steel and ICICI Bank were the top percent-wise losers from the Nifty pack.
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However, ITC, Ranbaxy, Bajaj Auto, TCS, IDFC, HCL Tech, Sun Pharma, Asian Paint, BPCL and Ambuja Cement registered good gains.
Turnover in cash segment rose to Rs 11,013.89 crore from Rs 10,899.97 crore yesterday. In all, 6,624.59 lakh shares changed hands in 58,87,567 trades. Market capitalisation stood at Rs 57,62,915 crore.