Mumbai, Feb 6 : The Indian stock market on Thursday closed lower as investors remained cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision on the rate cut scheduled for February 7.

The Sensex fell by 213.12 points, or 0.27 per cent to settle at 78,058.16. During the day, the index fluctuated between a high of 78,551.66 and a low of 77,843.99.

Similarly, the Nifty ended lower by 92.95 points, or 0.39 per cent to close at 23,603.35. The index recorded a day's high of 23,773.55 and a low of 23,556.25.

Among the Nifty stocks, 30 companies closed in negative territory.

Trent, Bharat Electronics, Bharti Airtel, ONGC and Titan were among the biggest losers with falling up to 8.39 per cent.

On the other hand, Adani Ports, Cipla, Infosys and Dr. Reddy's Labs managed to close higher during intra-day trade with gains of up to 2.51 per cent.

The broader market also followed a downward trend. The Nifty Midcap100 fell by 1.26 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap100 declined by 0.30 per cent.

Sectoral indices on the NSE had a mixed performance amid cautious sentiment among investors.

The Nifty Auto, FMCG, Consumer Durables, Realty, and Financial Services indices faced losses with a decline of up to 2.19 per cent.

On the other hand, sectors like Nifty Bank, IT, Pharma, Private Bank, and Healthcare showed resilience by ending the session in modest gains of up to 0.64 per cent.

'Around the current levels, that is, 87.30/40, the depreciation in rupee evens out with the level of depreciation in the emerging market currencies and the Latin American and African currencies,' said Dr Joseph Thomas, Head of Research, Emkay Wealth Management.

He further said that we should not undermine the probability of larger dollar inflows in to India on account of repatriation by companies mainly tech companies who may be having their receivables from overseas business.

Gold traded sideways with minor weakness, hovering around Rs 84,450 in MCX, while Comex gold saw a slight retracement towards $2,850.

/IANS