Sensex falls in cautious trade ahead of derivatives expiry

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex fell on Wednesday, dragged down by heavyweights such as Housing Development and Finance Corp and Bharti Airtel after their quarterly earnings fell short of expectations.

Markets earlier seesawed between positive and negative territories in a volatile session, a day ahead of the April derivatives contract expiry amid a holiday truncated week.

The BSE Sensex closed down 0.62 percent at 27,225.93, while the Nifty ended 0.55 percent lower at 8,239.75.

HDFC's shares fell 2.2 percent, while Bharti Airtel closed down 3.3 percent.

(Reporting by Indulal PM; Editing by Anand Basu)