Equities succumbed to fresh bout of selling after a two-session winning streak following severe volatility in global markets as the NSE-benchmark Nifty moved down 21 points to end at 7,870.15.
The sentiment took a big hit initiated by a sell-off in financial markets worldwide on renewed expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates soon after data showed rising US inflation.
Extreme investors caution ahead of the release of FOMC minutes from the last interest-rate policy-making meeting also weighed on trade.
Lower-than-expected Q4 earnings from state-owned banks and worsening asset quality further dampened investor mood after Public sector lender reported a huge loss of Rs 5,367.14 crore on account of higher provisioning for bad loans.
After a sharp gap-down opening, influenced by weak global cues, the market remained under intense selling pressure throughout the day. However, some low-level buying in key heavyweights toward the tail-end helped the market to cut its losses.
Elsewhere, major Asian bourses ended on a bearish note despite better-than-expected Japan's GDP data amid renewed concerns that the US Federal Reserve may hike interest rates soon. The Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to release its April meeting minutes later in the day.
The 50-share index commenced sharply lower at 7,846.75 and swung widely between 7,882.05 and 7,810.75 before ending at 7,870.15, showing a modest loss of 20.60 points, or 0.26 per cent, over its last finish.
Among the sectoral indices, Media tumbled (1.69 per cent), Auto (1.21 per cent) and Nifty Bank (0.20 per cent), while energy and technology settled with minor losses.
However, Realty jumped (2.30 per cent), Nifty PSU Bank (1.69 per cent), Metal (0.70 per cent), Infra (0.20 per cent), Pharma (0.17 per cent) and FMCG (0.02 per cent). The mid-cap and Small-cap also edged higher by 0.36 and 0.55 per cent, respectively.
Major index laggards were HDFC Bank, Bosch, HDFC, Tata Motors, TCS, ZEE, Infosys, M&M, Heromotocop, Bajaj Auto, HUL, Bharti Infratel, Maruti and Sun Pharma.
The notable smart movers included L&T, ITC, SBI, ONGC, Lupin, HCL-Tech, Aurobindo Pharma, Eicher, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, Reliance, Dr Reddy's, Tech Mahindra and Yes Bank.
Turnover in cash segment dropped to Rs 15,703.18 crore compared to Rs 17,537.67 crore yesterday.
A total of 7,897.83 lakh shares changed hands in 72,50,693 trades. The market capitalisation of the NSE stood at Rs 95,48,601 crore.
