Snapping two-day gain, the benchmark Sensex shed 68 points led largely by bank and metal stocks. The index opened marginally up at 21,128 against the previous close of 21,101. It touched a high of 21,157 and low of 21,011 before closing at 21,033, with a loss of 68 points. The total turnover on BSE was almost flat at Rs 2036 crore against Rs 2044 crore recorded on Monday.
On NSE, Nifty was down 16 points at 6,268.
Sesa Sterlite shares were down two per cent at Rs 199 on reports that Central Bureau of Investigation has started a probe into possible irregularities in its stake buy in Hindustan Zinc.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) was up one per cent at Rs 1,076 while L&T Finance Holdings rose three per cent at Rs 74. L&T said that the company has completed sale of 1.71 crore shares aggregating to one per cent in L&T Finance Holdings on Monday to comply with the minimum public shareholding requirement. L&T's total shareholding in L&T Finance Holdings now stands at 81.5 per cent.
Power Grid Corporation was down one per cent at Rs 99. The company said during market hours that the board of directors of the company at its meeting has approved the investment approval for 'Eastern Region Strengthening Scheme-X (ERSS-X)' at an estimated cost of Rs 144 crore, with commissioning schedule of 24 months from the date of investment approval.
Metal and mining stocks that edged lower include Hindalco Industries (-1.21%), JSW Steel (-0.3%), SAIL (-0.63%), NMDC (-0.61%), National Aluminum Company (-1.04%), Jindal Steel & Power (-1.44%), Bhushan Steel (-0.08%) and Tata Steel (-1.35%).
Major gainers were Gitanjali Gems (17%), Century Textile (13%), Apollo Tyres (8%), Aurobindo Pharma (4%), ING Vysya Bank (4%), Future Retail (4%), Bosch (4%) and Mphasis (4%).
Losers include J&K Bank (-4%), Tata Power (-3%), Hindustan Zinc (-2%), Wipro (2%) and Strides Arco (-2%).