The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensex settled with a loss of 34.12 points at 3,069.78 on Wednesday, following profit taking in technology stocks, which lost ground on the back of last night's fall on Wall Street.
"The sentiment was affected by a raft of corporate profit warnings, soft economic data and a tough US stance on Iraq. Stocks touched six-week lows on Wall Street overnight, affecting domestic markets too," a dealer at a local brokerage house said.
Meanwhile, at the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the S&P CNX Nifty index shed 11.30 points to close at 983.60.
Most Asian markets also tumbled. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index lost 2.40 per cent, Japan's Nikkei 225 average slipped 0.75 per cent, Taiwan's Taiex declined by 3.26 per cent, while Singapore's Straits Times index lost 1.88 per cent.
Technology stocks led the fall with Infosys Technologies falling 2.72 per cent to Rs 3,570.05 on fund-based selling.
Satyam Computer dropped 2.47 per cent to Rs 231.30, HCL Technologies fell 3.37 per cent to Rs 209.60, while Wipro declined 3.20 per cent to Rs 1,306.85 on selling pressure, after gaining over 4 per cent on Tuesday.
Elsewhere, media major Zee Telefilms settled 2.11 per cent lower at Rs 97.50, off the intraday high of Rs 101.30 on institutional offloading.
Pharma major Ranbaxy Laboratories bucked the weak trend after the company received US approval for a generic version of antibiotic Augmentin. The stock gained 2.16 per cent to settle at Rs 911.70.
However, Dr Reddy's shed 3.50 per cent to Rs 816.30 on reports that the company would seek licencing out deals for its new drug molecules only after completion of the clinical phase II stage.
Heavyweight counters such as Nestle India advanced 0.30 per cent to Rs 561.35, ICICI Bank gained 0.28 per cent to Rs 144.25 and GlaxoSmithKline Pharma rallied 0.20 per cent to Rs 370.
However, Reliance Industries slipped 1.28 per cent to Rs 258.60, Reliance Petroleum lost 0.86 per cent to Rs 23.15, while ITC shed 0.61 per cent to Rs 664.10.
Hindustan Petroleum also lost further ground on sustained selling pressure. The stock settled 4.52 per cent lower at Rs 182.85.
Other state-owned firms such as Bhel (down 0.87 per cent to Rs 164.50) and MTNL (down 0.40 per cent to Rs 112.60) also ended lower on selling pressure.
