MUMBAI: Indian equity benchmarks struggled for direction on Thursday before closing lower for a fourth straight session, as lack of fresh triggers kept investors cautious, while gains in information technology stocks capped broader market losses. The Nifty 50 eased 0.01 percent to 25,815.55 points and the BSE Sensex lost 0.09 percent to 84,481.81.
The benchmark indexes are down 0.9 percent in four sessions.
Eleven of the 16 major sectors fell, while the broader mid-caps and small-caps added 0.3 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.
A rebound in rupee kept markets in the green for most of the session on Thursday before the benchmarks gave up gains in the last hour.
Investors are waiting for US inflation data later today, which could be key to assessing the Federal Reserve’s future interest rate action.
V.K. Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments said the market drifted down in the previous session on Wednesday despite foreign investor buying, which could be due to an increase in short positions.