Bears continue to pull bourses down for 3rd straight day as volatility in market continues

Mumbai: The Sensex and Nifty reversed initial gains to close in the red for the third day running on Wednesday as investors continued to offload IT, consumption and metal stocks despite a largely positive trend overseas.

Unabated foreign fund outflows and rising crude oil prices put further pressure on markets.

Reversing course after a firm start, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 303.35 points or 0.56 per cent lower at 53,749.26.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty declined 99.35 points or 0.62 per cent to end at 16,025.80.

Asian Paints was the top loser in the Sensex pack, plunging 8.04 per cent, followed by TCS, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Larsen & Toubro, Infosys, HCL Tech and SBI. In contrast, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Nestle India, ICICI Bank and ITC were among the major gainers, spurting as much as 3.84 per cent.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge tumbled 2.94 per cent and the midcap index lost 1.93 per cent.

As many as 2,611 stocks declined, while 717 advanced and 116 remained unchanged.

Among BSE sectoral indices, IT slumped 3.19 per cent, followed by realty (3.02 per cent), industrials (2.66 per cent), consumer discretionary goods & services (2.47 per cent) and capital goods (2.44 per cent). Finance and bank indices ended marginally higher.

The rupee recovered 2 paise to 77.55 against the US currency in a restricted trade on Wednesday as interventions by banks supported the local unit while a stronger dollar in overseas markets restricted the gains.