Things changed dramatically in the last one hour as profit-booking emerged and Europe-based shares opened lower following the failed coup attempt in Turkey at the weekend.
The first half was upbeat, driven by better-than-expected earnings jump by Reliance Industries. Shares of the firm rose to a high of Rs 1,039 intra-day, but later on profit-booking it fell to end the session 0.82 per cent down at Rs 1,004.25.
"Market has already factored in the passage of GST bill, hence it is waiting before the start of the discussion. Additionally, the start of Q1FY17 result has been subdued which is creating extra volatility in the market," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
Sensex started-off on a strong foot and regained the 28,000-mark to hit a high of 28,013.50. However, on selling in key bluechips it slipped to a low of 27,697.69, before settling 89.84 points or 0.32 per cent lower at 27,746.66.
The broader markets too depicted a weak trend as retail investors locked-in gains. The BSE mid-cap index fell 0.62 per cent and small-cap index shed 0.48 per cent.
Shares of of telecom operator, Idea Cellular plunged by 6.52 per cent to Rs 103.90 after company announced up to 67 per cent reduction in 4G and 3G BIG internet packs rates.
Elsewhere, Asian stocks mostly closed higher, showing little reaction to a failed coup in Turkey, although investors responded to a data out of China suggesting that the country's housing market was expanding at less frenetic pace.
Back home, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) remained net
buyers, purchasing shares worth Rs 1,461.26 crore on Friday, as per provisional data.
In the domestic market, 20 scrips out of the 30-share Sensex pack ended lower while 10 ended higher.
Major losers were, ONGC (4.97 pc), Bharti Airtel (3.98 pc), HUL (2.04 pc), Tata Steel (1.94 pc), Cipla (1.56 pc), SBI (1.25 pc), GAIL (1.20 pc), HDFC (1.11 pc), Adani Ports (1.11 pc), RIL (0.82 pc), Dr Reddy's (0.78 pc) and Larsen (0.70 pc).
Among BSE sectoral indices, telecom dropped by 3.23 per cent, followed by oil&gas 1.61 per cent, realty 1.32 per cent, energy 1.10 per cent, metal 1.04 per cent, consumer durables 0.96 per cent and capital goods 0.63 per cent.
The market breadth was weak as 1,640 stocks declined 1,092 rose and 181 ruled steady of the total 2,913 stocks.
Total turnover fell to Rs 3,033.87 crore from Rs 3,913.55 crore on Friday.
