Erasing early gains, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Wednesday fell by nearly 45 points as investors booked profits after a three-day rally amid weak global cues.
The 30-share index, which had gained 410 points in last three sessions, closed lower by 44.52 at 20,015.80 points led by fall in market leader Reliance Industries.
The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 16.25 points to settle at 5,984.40 points, after moving between 5,958 and 6,023.80 points.
The early upsurge was snapped as Reliance Industries, the heaviest on the Sensex, fell by Rs. 14.40 to Rs. 1,057.05 and Maruti Suzuki lost Rs. 30.20 to Rs. 1,398.75.
A mixed trend in the Asian region and a lower opening in Europe on low participations of the foreign funds ahead of the year-end holidays further influenced the market sentiment.
In the 30-BSE index components, 15 stocks closed with gains and 14 ended in negative zone, while Hindustan Unilever remained unchanged.
The oil and gas sector index suffered the most by losing 0.71 per cent to 10,655.01 followed by capital goods index by 0.61 per cent to 15,227 points.
The banking sector index lost 0.55 per cent to 13,005.89 and consumer durable index by 0.47 per cent to 6,065.52.
As the buying interest seen shifting to low level investments, the small-cap index rose by 0.30 per cent to 9,337.11 and the mid-cap index by 0.10 per cent to 7,625.65 points.
