Sensex closes 67 points down; Nifty a tad above 8,100

Extending the fall for the third consecutive session, the domestic markets ended the day in red as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) declined after a soft quarter, adding to the IT sector's woes after Infosys' guidance cut and HCL Technologies' revenue warning.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed at 26,779.66, down 66.87 points, while broader CNX Nifty settled just a tad above its crucial psychological level of 8,100  

Investor risk appetite was also affected due to elections in Bihar and lower Asian shares after subdued inflation data from China.

"Market will remain rangebound till earnings season and Bihar elections get over," said Deven Choksey, managing director at K R Choksey Securities.

The stock of TCS was the top Sensex loser, which ended the day 4.39 per cent down at Rs 2483.40. (read more)

Shipping stocks surged up to 11 per cent intraday after a government source told Reuters that state-owned firms may have to give half their freight business to local shippers to help rescue an industry battered by the global commodities downturn. (read more)

Among Asian markets, China's Shanghai Composite closed the day with a downtick of 0.93 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended 0.71 per cent down, while Japan's Nikkei settled nearly 2 per cent down.

Overnight, US stocks closed in the red snapping the seven day uptrend. Decline in oil prices and further indications of slowdown in the Chinese economy weighed on the investor sentiments.  

(With inputs from Reuters)