Sustained selling mainly in private banks, finance service, banks, media and metals sectors pulled the market down but PSU banks and IT stocks capped the losses.
Investors were awaiting October-December gross domestic product data for clues about the domestic economy. The broader markets fared better than frontline indices as the Nifty Midcap and Small-cap index closed flat.
Overseas, Asian markets closed lower with the Japan's Nikkei, China's Shanghai and Hong Kong's Hang Seng falling 1 per cent each while European indices - France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE - were down 0.3 per cent each.
On the sectoral front, Nifty Private Bank dropped 1.33 per cent, Finance Service 1.16 per cent, Bank 1.09 per cent, Metal 1.06 per cent, Infra 0.83 per cent, FMCG 0.80 per cent and Pharma 0.70 per cent.
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On the other hand, PSU Bank and IT rose by 0.71 and 0.49 per cent, respectively.
Major index gainers included Infosys, UPL, Eicher Motor, Asian Paints, BPCL, Cipla, Coal India, and Ambuja Cement.
The market breadth, indicating its overall health, turned negative. A total of 692 scrips advanced, 1,086 declined, while 66 remained unchanged.
As many as 163 securities hit their price bands.
Turnover in the cash segment rose to Rs 35,921.99 crore from Rs 28,193.66 crore as on Tuesday.
A total of 16,274.96 lakh shares changed hands in 1,17,82,888 trades. The market capitalisation of listed firms on the NSE stood at Rs 1,45,64,090.78 crore.