Mumbai, April 22 (Inditop) A key index of the Indian equities markets managed to close off the day’s low Wednesday, but still ended in the red as investors sought to sell across the board.

The 30-scrip Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensitive index (Sensex), which opened at 10,968.6 points, lower than its Tuesday close, fell 80.57 points or 0.74 percent to close at 10,817.54 points.

The Sensex touched an intra-day high of 11,036.24 points and a low of 10,715.66 points.

Similarly, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) lost 1.04 percent from its previous close to end trade at 3,330.3 points.

Among broader market indices, the BSE midcap index shed 1.15 percent, while the BSE smallcap index was down 1.62 percent.

Of the 13 sectoral indices on the exchange, those for realty, consumer durables and capital goods stocks lost the most, while FMCG and IT scrips saw buying.

Among gainers on the Sensex were ACC, up 5.26 percent at Rs.645.75; Wipro, up 2.7 percent at Rs.281.65; Infosys, up 1.16 percent at Rs.1,379.35; and ITC, up 0.74 percent at Rs.189.90.

Losers included Maruti Suzuki, down 4.45 percent at Rs.754.25; DLF, down 4.3 percent at Rs.227.15; Sterlite, down 3.87 percent at Rs.367.70; and BHEL, down 3.55 percent at Rs.1,583.05.

The overall market sentiment was negative, with 1,064 stocks advancing, 1,443 declining and 92 remaining unchanged.

In other Asian markets, a key Japanese index – the Nikkei of the Tokyo Stock Exchange – Wednesday closed just above its last closing figure at 8,727.3 points, about 15.97 points higher than its last closing figure.

The Hang Seng, a key index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, closed lower at 14,878.45 points, 407.44 points below its previous close.

European markets were trading in the negative terrain, with the FTSE in Britain ruling 3.71 points higher than its previous close, and its French peer CAC 40 ruling 8.69 points up.