MUMBAI: The BSE Sensex sank for the third straight session on Thursday by 238.76 points to settle at a two-week-low of 35,149.12 due to heavy selling in select stocks such as Finance, Bankex, Power and FMCG coupled with uncertainty over whether BJP would prove majority to form new government in Karnataka.
The Nifty of National Stock Exchange (NSE) too fell by 58.40 points to 10,682.70.
Stocks suffered modest losses as Brent crude oil prices moved near the USD 80 per barrel mark as supplies tightened and demand remained strong.
In global commodities markets, Brent crude oil futures edged higher.
Brent for July 2018 settlement was up 56 cents at USD 79.84 a barrel.
Higher crude oil prices could increase fiscal deficit and current account deficit and stoke fuel price inflation.
The equity market remained volatile for the third consecutive session today.
The Sensex, which had fallen by 168 points in last two sessions, edged higher by 96 points to 35,483.62 in the morning session.
It then gained by 123 points to hit day's high of 35,510.01 before noon.
Later it slipped in red, as it crashed by nearly 300 points to hit day's low of 35,087.82, before closing at 35,149.12, sliding by 238.76 points as compared to its last close.
The Nifty registered day's high and low at 10,777.25 and 10,664.50 points, respectively.
The sectoral indices like Materials, FMCG, Finance, Bankex and Power fell that pulled the market down today.
Scrips of ITC, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Axis Bank aand Tata Steel fell during the day that also weighed down on the market sentiment.
However, Coal India, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors and Wipro gained that capped its further losses, brokers informed.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.67 per cent.
The Small-Cap index advanced 0.43 pc.
Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth was positive on BSE, as 1,403 shares advanced against 1,224 declined and 127 were unchanged.