Sensex succumbs to late sell-off, loses 317 points

Market benchmark Sensex ended a shade lower on Wednesday after giving up early gains of about 317 points on widespread fag-end selling amid sustained capital outflows by foreign funds and a weak trend in European shares.

However, NSE Nifty managed to eke out a small gain and closed above the crucial 8,100-mark. Sentiment remained upbeat for the major part of the session after lower inflation data raised hopes of a rate cut by RBI next month, but the index turned lower towards the fag-end as profit-booking emerged.

Sensex started off on a strong footing and advanced to a high of 26,621.40. However, it succumbed to profit-booking at higher levels, falling to 26,239.21, before settling 5.94 points or 0.02 % lower at 26,298.69. NSE Nifty, however, managed to close in the positive zone with a small gain of 3.15 points, or 0.04 %, at 8,111.60 after shuttling between 8,210.05 and 8,089.40.