Stocks kept a low profile for the fourth day as the Sensex fell over 71 points to a two-week low following sustained foreign outflows on caution ahead of a likely US rate hike in June and weakness across global markets due to subdued commodity prices.
Profit-booking towards the close of the session added to the losses.
Sentiment took a hit after investors started cutting down bets in view of the upcoming expiry of derivative contracts for the May series on Thursday.
Caution was writ large after FOMC minutes hinted at the US Fed tightening the policy as early as June, which weighed on mood.
The quantum and spatial distribution of the monsoon is also being closely tracked.
ITC was the star of the day though, which ended higher by 5.29 per cent after better-than-expected earnings numbers.
The BSE Sensex resumed higher, but profit booking later on dragged it down to the negative zone, which ended lower by 71.54 points, or 0.28 per cent, at 25,230.36. The gauge had lost almost 478 points in the previous three sessions.
The 50-share NSE Nifty shed 18.65 points, or 0.24 per cent at 7,731.05, after moving between 7,820.60 and 7,722.20.
As many as 23 Sensex stocks closed with losses, including Tata Steel, Lupin, ONGC, Cipla, Bajaj Auto, HDFC and TCS.
However, Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever, Coal India and ICICI bank notched up gains, which capped the fall.
Capital goods suffered the most falling by 0.91 per cent, followed by healthcare, IT and realty.
The broader markets too lay low, with the BSE small cap index declining 0.38 per cent and the mid-cap index shedding 0.29 per cent.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net sold shares worth Rs 743.86 crore last Friday, provisional data showed.
Of the 30-share Sensex, 12 ended higher gaining as much
as 2.03 per cent, while NTPC, Bajaj Auto, L&T, ITC Ltd, Hero MotoCorp, Cipla, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Hind Unilever, ONGC, Dr Reddy's, SBI, RIL, HDFC Ltd and Maruti Suzuki finished lower, fell by up to 2.90 per cent.
Infosys stayed in the lead among Sensex constituents and climbed 2.35 per cent, followed by TCS (1.83 per cent), Bharti Airtel (1.10 per cent), Asian Paint (0.98 per cent), Adani Ports (0.98 per cent), GAIL (0.80 per cent) and Wipro (0.77 per cent).
Shares of Tata Power plunged 3.24 per cent after the company's consolidated net profit tumbled by 76 per cent to Rs 72.49 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016.
Shares of Idea Cellular climbed 6.72 per cent to Rs 100.80 on the back of favourable corporate reports.
Among the sectoral indices, IT rose by 1.82 pct, teck 1.78 pct and bankex 0.11 pct, while oil&gas fell 1.48 pct followed by power by 1.11 pct.
Mid-cap and small-cap indices also fell by 0.28 pct and 0.07 pct as investors indulged in trimming positions to book profits.
Globally, China's Shanghai Composite closed 0.16 per cent up, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed a shade higher. Japan's Nikkei, however, shed 0.61 per cent.
European equities edged higher amid encouraging economic data and a rebound in commodity producers.
Key indices from the continent, like in London's FTSE, France and Germany and the UK, were higher by up to 0.77 per cent.
