The stock market lost lustre for the second consecutive day on Wednesday as sustained selling by wary operators ahead of the expiry of February series pulled the benchmark BSE Sensex down by 65 points to close at 14,188.49.
Analysts said market sentiment has turned cautious with investors opting to unwind their positions ahead of the expiry of February contract on Thursday.
Most of the IT shares were at the receiving end while some of the metal counters attracted renewed buying support.
The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share sensitive index, Sensex, opened weak at 14,199.07 from Tuesday's close of 14,253.38 and moved erratically in a range of 14,312.88 and 14,157.72. It later ended the day at 14,188.49, a fall of 64.89 points or 0.46 per cent.
Similarly, the National Stock Exchange's (NSE) S&P CNX Nifty dropped by 10.75 points or 0.26 per cent to end at 4,096.20 from the previous close of 4,106.95.
There was no major global cue to the market to move either side as Asian markets on Wednesday remained mixed.
RIL, Infosys, Satyam Computer, TCS, BHEL, Grasim, HDFC Bank, HLL and Ranbaxy suffered sharp falls on selling.
According to analysts, the market is consolidating above 14,000 level as nobody was ready to take fresh long positions ahead of the expiry of derivatives contract and also the union budget to be announced on February 28.
{{/usCountry}}According to analysts, the market is consolidating above 14,000 level as nobody was ready to take fresh long positions ahead of the expiry of derivatives contract and also the union budget to be announced on February 28.
{{/usCountry}}Operators were reluctant to rollover positions in some heavy counters in futures as little bit of unwinding was seen but rolling over was seen in their favourite stocks to the next series, analysts said.