Though companies reported healthy results on Tuesday, it failed to cheer market sentiments. However, the 30-share Sensex recovered almost 93 points from the day's low.
"We saw some profit booking in the market, but that has been the case after every consecutive rally. There was not much buying in the market as institutions kept selling, fearing that inflation may move further up," said a broker.
Investors continued to adopt a cautious approach towards mid-cap stocks even as the BSE mid-cap index slipped 0.33 per cent. However, despite a slide in the benchmark index, small-caps saw some buying interest as the index ended a tad higher, 35 points up at 8,658 points.
Global cues were largely negative, which added to the woes. Asian markets slipped into red during the early hours of trade.
Bankex was the worst performing index as banking stocks lost ground on increasing non-performing assets. Analysts are of the view that the sector may see more downtrend.
FIIs offloaded Rs 320.5 crore worth of stocks while domestic institutions, including banks, mutual funds and insurance companies, bought shares worth only Rs 0.39 crore.
