April series of F&O contract expired lower by 48.30 points or 0.83%. Earlier, Indian equity market made a decent start taking positive cues from the firm Asian counterparts. But, slipped into the red in the early trade paring all its initial gains due to rise in international crude oil prices and sustained selling witnessed by foreign funds. Afterwards, the benchmark continued to trade range bound till early noon trade as investors remained cautious ahead of the F&O expiry.

The markets had a rough ride as unwinding of positions ahead of April derivatives expiry took a toll on key heavyweights. The Sensex shaved off nearly 300 points from the highs registered at opening bell to end the day at 19,292, lower by 156 points and the Nifty ended at 5785, down 48 points. The midcap index ended at 7168, lower by and the smallcap index ended at   , down  points.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers of Rs 832.59 crore (provisional) today, according to data released by BSE. While FIIs made gross purchases of Rs 4,257.02 crore, gross sales totalled Rs 5,089.61 crore. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of Rs 532.60 crore today. While DIIs made gross purchases of Rs 1,868.83 crore, gross sales totalled Rs 1,336.23 crore.