Sensex ends lower in cautious trade

Mumbai: Erasing early gains, the Sensex ended lower by 22 points at 36,351.23 in range-bound trade today amid lower-than-expected results.

Investors were not in a mood to make fresh bets ahead of the voting on the no-confidence motion against the NDA government tabled in the Lok Sabha, brokers said. A depreciating rupee, which again breached the 69-mark against the dollar in intra-day trade, too weighed on sentiment, they added.

The Sensex opened higher and advanced to hit a high of 36,515.58, but soon turned lower and slipped to 36,279.33. It finally settled at 36,351.23, down 22.21 points, or 0.06 per cent. The 50-share NSE Nifty too ended 23.35 points, or 0.21 per cent lower at 10,957.10.

Intra-day, it shuttled between 11,006.50 and 10,935.45, Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 111.01 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 95.68 crore yesterday, provisional data released by stock exchanges showed.