MUMBAI: Stock markets closed lower for the second consecutive day on Wednesday as investors remained cautious amid conflicting geopolitical signals from the West Asia and fresh foreign fund outflows.
In a volatile trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 141.90 points, or 0.19 per cent, to settle at 75,867.80, with 20 of its constituents ending higher and 10 with losses. During the day, it hit a high of 76,224.68 and a low of 75,748.21, gyrating 476.47 points.
The 50-share NSE Nifty skidded 6.55 points, or 0.03 per cent, to end at 23,907.15. Sensex had dropped by 479.26 points and Nifty by 118 points on Tuesday.
Financials, oil & gas, IT and private banking shares were the major drag while energy, metals, and auto shares advanced, capping the downside.
Among 30 Sensex firms, HDFC Bank fell the most by 2.63 per cent. Infosys, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank were also among the major laggards.
Power Grid, Eternal, NTPC and Tata Steel were the major gainers.
"Investor sentiment remained cautious amid lingering concerns surrounding the fragile US-Iran truce and elevated crude oil prices," Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.
"Indian equity markets ended largely subdued as investors adopted a wait-and-watch approach amid conflicting geopolitical signals from the Middle East.
"While indications of continued diplomatic engagement between the US and Iran helped stabilise sentiment and limit aggressive selling pressure, the absence of any concrete breakthrough kept risk appetite restrained," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.
Broader markets closed on a mixed note with the BSE SmallCap Select index declining by 0.29 per cent and MidCap Select index gaining 0.52 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, Top 10 Banks edged lower by 0.90 per cent, Private Banks index dropped 0.83 per cent, Financial Services by 0.64 per cent, Bankex by 0.48 per cent, Focused IT by 0.26 per cent and IT by 0.26 per cent.
Capital Goods jumped 3.21 per cent, followed by Utilities (2.39 per cent), Power (3.27 per cent), Metal (1.74 per cent), Auto (1.33 per cent), Telecommunication (1.02 per cent) and Consumer Discretionary (1.01 per cent).
In Asian markets, South Korea's benchmark Kospi and Japan's Nikkei 225 index ended higher, while Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index settled lower.
Markets in Europe were trading in positive territory. US markets mostly ended higher on Tuesday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,407.87 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, dropped 3.24 per cent to USD 96.35 per barrel.
The rupee slipped by 3 paise to settle at 95.73 against the US dollar.
Stock and forex markets will remain closed on Thursday for Bakri Id.