The benchmark Nifty ended lower by 8 points as volatility continued to rule for the third straight session amid investors caution on heightened worries about early Fed rate hike.
Domestic macroeconomic data including much-awaited industrial production numbers against the backdrop of global uncertainty and central bankers' meet outcome kept investors on their toes.
Despite a strong start, bourses succumbed to heavy profit-taking in mid-afternoon trade mainly in blue-chip stocks led by healthcare, metal and energy.
But firm buying in fmcg, auto, bank and technology counters somewhat cushioned the fall.
The government late Wednesday kicked off an ambitious disinvestment programme with the cabinet committee on economic affairs clearing stake sales in public sector blue-chip companies ONGC, Coal India and National Hydroelectric Power Corporation.
Elsewhere in Asia, equities finished mixed amid growing concerns that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates sooner than expected.
The 50-share bellwether index fluctuated between 8,127.95 and 8,057.30 before edging back to finish marginally lower by 8.40 points at 8,085.7 or 0.10 per cent, over the last close.
Drug major Sun Pharma topped the sellers' list and plunged by 4.31 per cent on US drug regulator's surprise audit at pharma's Halol facility in Gujarat.
Other big losers included Lupin, HDFC Bank, Wipro, Tata Motors, M&M, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto, Bharti Airtel and Dr Reddys.
The disinvestment candidates such as ONGC, Coal India and NHPC also witnessed huge unwinding of shares, sliding 3 to 5 per cent with heavy volume.
SBI, L&T, Infosys, IDFC, Reliance, HUL, Heromotoco, HDFC, Power Grid, Bank of Baroda, BHEL and United Spirits were among the notable frontline smart movers.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was strong as advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones by 1,066 to 504.
Turnover in the cash segment spurted to Rs 17,423.52 crore from Rs 16,292.73 crore yesterday. A total of 11,127.01 lakh shares changed hands in 81,30,043 trades, while market capitalisation stood at Rs 93,96,539 crore.
