Domestic market sell-off continued for the second day on Wednesday, with the Sensex falling by over 150 points on widespread selling in metal, oil & gas, PSU and realty stocks.

The 30-share BSE index, after opening strong at 33,417.35, touched the day’s high of 33,484.70 on the back of foreign fund inflows. However, it succumbed to profit-booking in late afternoon trade and slumped to a low of 33,157.68, before ending the session down by 151.95 points or 0.46 per cent at 33,218.81.

This is its weakest closing level since October 31, when it had ended at 33,213.13.

Similarly, the 50-share NSE index Nifty slumped 47 points or 0.45 per cent to close at 10,303.15 after shuttling between 10,384.25 and 10,285.50.

Among BSE sectoral indices, metal index fell the most by 1.55 per cent, followed by oil & gas 1.3 per cent, PSU 1.21 per cent and realty 0.99 per cent, while IT index was down 0.39 per cent and TECk 0.09 per cent.

Refiners declined as oil prices remained well supported on OPEC-led supply cuts.

Top five Sensex gainers were Axis Bank (+3.41%), Asian Paints (+2.51%), Cipla (+2.07%), Sun Pharma (+1.89%) and Coal India (+0.97%), while the major losers were Bharti Airtel (-3.73%), Tata Motors (-2.92%), State Bank of India (-2.35%), Lupin (-2.09%) and ICICI Bank (-2.05%).

Crude oil prices slipped on Wednesday, but hovered near two-and-a-half year highs hit earlier this week, potentially stalling a record-setting share rally on concerns India's central bank would hold off on cutting interest rates.

“The biggest area of concern right now is crude oil (prices). It has the potential to be a headwind for the market if it continues to rise,” said Sunil Sharma, Chief Investment Officer at Sanctum Wealth Management.

“Other than that, corporate results have been a positive story so far. At least two-thirds of companies have exceeded expectations and that's a very healthy performance compared to at least last six quarters,” Sharma added.

Asian shares paused at decade peaks and the dollar dipped on Wednesday amid concerns Republican plans for major US tax cuts were running into headwinds even before the Senate releases its own version of the proposals.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.05 per cent having hit its highest since November 2007 on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.4 per cent, though that followed a jump to its best close since 1992.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a fourth consecutive record high close on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 ended marginally lower after a disappointing profit forecast from Priceline and a drop in financials.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 0.04 per cent at 23,557.23 after spending most of the day in negative territory. The S&P 500 dipped 0.02 per cent to 2,590.64. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.27 per cent to 6,767.78.

(With inputs from Agencies)

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