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Ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision and mixed global market trends, benchmark indices turned lower on May 3, halting their eight-day rally.
Besides, decline in index majors Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Larsen & Toubro added to the weak trend in equities.
The 30-share BSE Sensex closed at 61,193.30, down 161.41 points or 0.26%. During the day, it fell 330.27 points, or 0.53%, to 61,024.44. The broader NSE Nifty closed 57.80 points, or 0.32%, down at 18,089.85.
Among Sensex firms, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Consultancy Services, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries, Wipro, Infosys, HCL Technologies, IndusInd Bank and Tata Steel were the major laggards.
The gainers included Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, UltraTech Cement, ITC and Nestle. In Asian markets, Seoul and Hong Kong closed with losses while Shanghai closed in the green.
European stock markets were mostly trading with gains. US markets closed down on Tuesday.
Rising for the eighth consecutive day, the BSE benchmark had climbed 242.27 points, or 0.40%, to close at 61,354.71 on Tuesday. The Nifty closed at 18,147.65, up 82.65 points or 0.46%.
Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude fell 2.08% to $73.75 per barrel. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Tuesday as they bought equities worth Rs 1,997.35 crore, according to exchange data.