The benchmark Sensex failed to sustain initial gains today and fell for the third day, dropping 12 points, amid selling in auto, realty and FMCG sector stocks.
Renewed uncertainty about the US Federal Reserve tapering its stimulus programme and the absence of buying by foreign institutional investors weighed on the market. The rupee was mainly flat after closing at 62.93 against the dollar yesterday.
It was the third weekly loss for the Sensex, which was dragged lower by ITC, Tata Motors and ICICI Bank shares. Support came from HDFC, ONGC and Larsen & Toubro.
Sesa Sterlite and Bajaj Auto were among the biggest losers as 18 of the 30 index shares declined.
The S&P BSE Sensex opened higher and climbed as much as 159 points amid firm global trends. Selling in the last hour and a half pulled the index down and it ended at 20,217.39, a fall of 11.66 points or 0.06 per cent.
The index has lost 673 points in the past three days and is at the lowest level since November 13, when it closed at 20,194.4. Over the past week, it slipped 182 points.
The wider CNX Nifty on the National Stock Exchange fell 3.6 points to 5,995.45. The SX40 on the MCX Stock Exchange ended 17.88 points higher at 12,026.16.
"Mixed global cues, FII selling on Thursday and overall profit booking at higher levels limited the Nifty's upside," said Nidhi Saraswat, Senior Research Analyst at Bonanza Portfolio Ltd. "Rupee too was trading near 62.88 level against the dollar. A probable slowdown in US stimulus also led to cautious approach."
Overseas investors sold shares for the first time since October 3. They offloaded a net Rs 59.80 crore of stocks yesterday, according to provisional data on the stock exchanges.
Barring China, Asian stocks were higher after a firm US market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 16K-mark for the first time after better-than-expected jobless claims data.
