The market fell further due to fresh selling by operators, the absence of support from institutional investors and speculative selling pressure. According to figures collated by BSE, FIIs remained net sellers as they bought shares worth Rs 33 crore and sold shares worth Rs 34 crore thus. The domestic institutions were net buyers at Rs 2 crore with purchases of Rs 34 crore and sales of Rs 32 crore.

Fresh selling and dull movements were attributed to the closure of the NSE and Delhi Stock Exchange for the assembly elections in four states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram.

Reflecting the trend, the 30-scrip BSE Sensex opened at 2,900.36 points which was also the day's high, fell to the day's low of 2,874.17points, before closing at 2,881.69 points, showing a net loss of 21.87 points from the previous close of 2,903.56 points. Market participants said that the market was unlikely to move upwards ahead of the election results as any negative outcome would come as setback for the BJP-led coalition government at the centre.

The Sensex has lost nearly 60 points during the last three straight trading sessions. According to leading BSE brokers, the marketmen are awaiting Sebi's announcements towards the short-sale and margins. ``We are positively thinking that Sebi would restrain short sale to some extent by increasing margins,'' a senior dealer at the financial institution said. According to a report, the major stock markets in the world too reported a weak trend on Wednesday. The Nikkei index at Tokyo dropped by 19.17 points, the FTSE-100 index at London eased by 7.02 points, while the Hang-Seng index lost 130.72 points from the previous close.

Sterlite Industries met with only sellers and hit the price band atthe early stages. Videocon International, Voltas, Sesa Goa, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Chem and Tisco were other weak spots on the selling pressure. The total turnover on the BOLT dropped significantly to Rs 706.86 crore from Tuesday's turnover of Rs 1053.33 crore.

Satyam Computer topped the list of turnover by registering highest turnover of Rs 114.33 crore, followed by ITC Rs 66.47 crore, Reliance Rs 53.81 crore, SBI Rs 47.29 crore and Telco Rs 38.45 crore.