Unenthusiastic third quarter earnings by some major corporates also weighed on the market sentiment.
Brokers said the market mood was subdued after HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI)- a measure of factory production - stood at 53.2 in January, after hitting a six-month high level of 54.7 in December.
Telecom services major, Bharti Airtel, was down by 3.0 per cent after the company's Q3 net profit dropped by 72 per cent and state-run heavy electric equipments giant, BHEL, declined by 1.23 per cent as the company posted a 17.5 per cent drop in third quarter net profit for the three months ended December, 2012.
The 50-issue Nifty initially touched a high of 6,052.95, later it encountered with profit-booking and closed below 6K-level at 5,998.90, a fall of 35.85 points, or 0.59 per cent.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net buyers and they picked up shares worth Rs 1,042.20 crore yesterday, as per Sebi data.
Asian stocks closed mixed with upward bias on encouraging manufacturing data from China. Indices from Hong Kong and South Korea closed with minor losses while from China, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan finished with gains. European markets, too, were trading higher in the afternoon deals.
Other major losers from the Nifty Tata Motors 5.49 per cent, Jaipra Asso 4.08 per cent, DLF 3.49 per cent and Ultra Cem 3.41 per cent, while top five gainers were BPCL 2.97 per cent, Cipla 1.81 per cent, Maruti Suz 1.78 per cent, Dr Reddy 1.53 per cent and Bajaj Aut 1.42 per cent.
Turnover in the cash segment dipped to Rs 12,015 33 crore from Rs 16,028.43 crore yesterday. A total of 7,593.68 lakh shares changed hands in 57,48,383 trades. The total market capitalisation stood at Rs 68,34,067 crore.
