Paring early gains keeps truncated week in red

Lacklustre Global Cues

- Selling pressure in auto and banking heavyweights

- BSE Sensex finished 237.44 pts lower at 58,338.93

- NSE Nifty dipped 54.65 pts to 17,475.65

- Maruti, Dr Reddy's, Asian Paints, PowerGrid, Bajaj Finserv and Kotak Bank declined

- ITC, Sun Pharma, Hindustan Unilever Limited, SBI, NTPC and Bajaj Finance among gainers

- In 3 sessions, Sensex tumbled 1,108.25 pts or 1.86%, while Nifty lost 308.70 or 1.73%

Mumbai: Equity indices gave up early gains to close in the red for the third session on the trot on Wednesday, weighed by selling in banking and finance counters amid inflationary pressures and persistent foreign fund outflows. A weak rupee and lacklustre global cues also kept buying sentiment in check, traders said. The 30-share BSE Sensex opened on a firm footing, but failed to hold on the momentum, finishing 237.44 points or 0.41 per cent lower at 58,338.93. On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty dipped 54.65 points or 0.31 per cent to close at 17,475.65.

HDFC and HDFC Bank were the top laggards in the Sensex pack, shedding 2.01 per cent and 1.90 per cent respectively, followed by Maruti, Dr Reddy's, Asian Paints, PowerGrid, Bajaj Finserv and Kotak Bank. In contrast, ITC, Sun Pharma, Hindustan Unilever Limited, State Bank of India, NTPC and Bajaj Finance were among the prominent gainers, spurting as much as 1.87 per cent.

"Markets remained under pressure and ended marginally lower, in continuation of the prevailing corrective phase. Initially, firm Asian markets led to a gap-up opening, however, the gains fizzled out in no time due to selling pressure in auto and banking heavyweights. Meanwhile, sectoral and broader indices traded mixed which kept the participants busy till the end," said Ajit Mishra, V-P (research), Religare Broking Ltd.

Stock markets will be closed on Thursday for Mahavir Jayanti and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti, as well as on Friday on account of Good Friday.