Sensex falls 344 pts, Nifty slides below 17,000 mark on 5th day of losses

Benchmark BSE Sensex trimmed all its early gains to close down by 344 points at a five-month low on Wednesday due to heavy selling in banking, financial and telecom stocks as lingering concerns over banks' health and high inflation dented sentiments.

Besides, persistent foreign capital drain from the domestic market and the sliding rupee kept the pressure on equities, traders said.

Falling for the fifth straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed lower by 344.29 points or 0.59 per cent at 57,555.90. During the session, it touched a high of 58,473.63 and a low of 57,455.67.

The broader NSE Nifty declined 71.15 points or 0.42 per cent to end at 16,972.15, with 28 of its stocks ending with losses.

IndusInd Bank was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, shedding nearly 2 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, HDFC twins, SBI, HUL, Tata Motors, Nestle India and Axis Bank.

On the other hand, Asian Paints, Tata Steel, Titan and L&T were among the gainers, rising up to 3.03 per cent.