The benchmark Nifty ended marginally lower by 7 points after enduring a choppy trading session on the back of profit-booking in select blue-chip stocks.
Investors sentiment turned highly cautious following yesterday's stellar rally and continued concerns about tepid earnings outcome as well as foreign funds selling.
A sharp spike in crude oil prices which climbed back above the key USD 60 a barrel for the first time since December also kept investors on edgy along with lacklustre Asian cues.
The bellwether index had rallied by 150 points in the previous session.
After a cautious start, the key indices wavered between gains and losses throughout the trade with high amount of volatility even as small investors opted to book some of their profit after a huge rally in previous session.
However, sustained buying support at lower levels and some value buying helped the market to trim early losses towards the fag-end.
Elsewhere in the region, China and Honkong indices plunged sharply in holiday-thin trade following heavy selling after the Australian central bank cut interest rates for the second time in four months. Markets in Japan, South Korea and Thailand are closed for public holidays.
The broader 50-share index fluctuated between a high of 8,355.65 and a low of 8,280.60 before settling at 8,324.80, clocking a modest fall of 7.15 points, or 0.09 per cent.
Banking stocks, particularly PSU lenders suffered the most with sectoral indices plunging over 1.24 per cent. Infra, Technology, Auto and Bank Nifty also saw some fresh selling.
However, Metal outperformed its peers throughout the day and ended with strong gains led by key frontline heavyweights. This was followed by Realty, Healthcare, Energy and FMCG.
Stock specific actions were seen in retail sector sparked by a wave of mergers in the industry with stocks hitting upper circuit for the second straight day.
HDFC, Infosys, HDFC Bank, ITC, SBI, M&M, Bharti Artel, Cipla, Zee, ICICI Bank, HCL-Tech, Heromotoco, Axis Bank, NTPC, Bajaj Auto, Coal India, Cairn, Grasim, Power Grid and Indusind are among some of the notable index losers.
Kotak Bank topped the gainers list on the back of strong Q4 earnings outcome. Other smart movers included ONGC, TCS, Vedanta, HUL, Tata Steel, L&T, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, NMDC, Maruti, Hindalco, GAIL, Wipro and IDEA.
Turnover in the cash segment rose to Rs 17,218.56 crore against Rs 16,362.21 crore yesterday. A total of 6,975.23 lakh shares changed hands in 71,44,953 trades. The total market capitalisation stood at Rs 9,917,821 crore.
