After resuming marginally higher in the morning, the BSE benchmark index moved in a narrow 130-point range and closed 17.55 points down to 17,521.12. The Sensex had gained 140 points in last three days and yesterday had ended at 17,538.67, its highest closing in 3 months.
In the 30-share Sensex, 18 stocks including heavyweights Infosys and Reliance Industries declined while 12 stocks, led by ICICI Bank and HDFC, closed higher. The market breadth was weak with over 1,500 stocks down out of 3,028 scrips traded.
Eurozone and Chinese central banks yesterday slashed interest rates while Bank of England unveiled fresh stimulus worth 50 billion pounds. "The rate cuts by ECB and PBoC had little impact on markets and have been discounted," said Dipen Shah, Head Fundamental Research, Kotak Securities.
Meanwhile, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia's comment today that achieving average growth rate of 9 per cent in the next five years is not possible soured the market mood.
Brokers said investors also turned cautious ahead of quarterly earnings by companies led by software majors Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys release results on July 12.
The sentiment weakened further as the rupee fell the most in two weeks to 55.6 a dollar on speculation measures announced by European policy makers will not revive global economic growth, analysts said.
A mixed trend in Asia and lower opening in European stocks further influenced the market sentiment.
Benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan declined while European markets were also trading lower as indices in France, Germany and London dropped in afternoon.
Similarly, the 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty fell by 10.35 points, or 0.19 per cent to 5,316.95. (MORE)
