Infosys, the bellwether stock of Information Technology index, will unveil its third quarter performance on Friday amid fear software maker may cut its revenue guidance for the fiscal year.
The 30-share Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange dropped 3.04 points and ended at 19,663.55 and the 50-share Nifty shed 2.85 points to close at 5,968.65.
Asian markets, however, ended on a positive note after Chinese trade data.
In China, exports rose 14% in December from a year earlier compared to analysts forecast figure of 4% while imports gained 6% indicating stronger domestic demand.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.6% to 23,354, Taiwan's Weighted index rose 1% to 7,815, Singapore's Straits Times was down 0.01% to 3,220.
Also China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.4% to 2,284 while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.7% to 10,652.
European markets traded mixed ahead of the European Central Bank meeting later in the day where the central bank is expected to keep interest rates steady.
France's CAC down 0.32% to 3,706, Germany's DAX rose 0.1% to 7,725 while UK's FTSE was up 0.11% to 6,105.
Back home, barring banks, oil & gas, PSU, auto index, all sectoral indices dropped with real-estate, power, metals, capital goods, IT sectors leading declines on BSE.
Among key Sensex stocks, Bharti Airtel declined 1.2% , Hindalco and Sterlite dropped over 1.5% , BHEL declined 2%, TCS, Wipro and Infosys were down 1% while Reliance Industries fell 0.4% on BSE.
Among gainers, Tata Motors gained 2%, ONGC rose 3.4%, SBI & HDFC Bank ended up 1%, ITC gained 0.5% while Coal India rose 0.3%
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