Selling was seen in metal, FMCG, healthcare, realty, banking, oil & gas, consumer durables, PSU and power sector stocks. There was, however, some buying in IT, teck, auto, power and capital goods sector stocks which capped the losses.
WPI inflation rose marginally to 0.1 per cent in December but the data was discounted by the participants, traders said.
Shares of ITC Ltd, having 10.75 per cent weight on the Sensex, tumbled down by 3.29 per cent after government proposed to amend the anti-smoking law and proposed radical changes, including ban on sale of loose cigarettes.
Sentiments were dampened largely in tandem with a weak trend at other Asian stocks after base metal prices slumped as slowing global growth dims the outlook for commodities. This triggered selling in metal space stocks on domestic bourses, said equity brokers.
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Overall, 19 Sensex constituents declined while 11 rose.
The 50-issue NSE Nifty ended 21.85 points, or 0.26 per cent down, at 8,277.55 after shuttling between 8,326.45 and 8,236.65.
Sectorwise, the BSE Metal index suffered the most by tumbling 3.50 per cent, followed by Healthcare index (down 0.90 pc), Realty index (down 0.73 pc), FMCG indes (0.64 pc) Oil & Gas index (0.62 pc), Banking index (0.46 pc) and Consumer Durables index (0.14 pc).
On the other hand, BSE IT, Teck, Auto, Power and Capital Goods indices ended higher.