Mumbai, Aug. 6 -- The domestic equity benchmarks ended lower on Wednesday, marking a second consecutive day of losses. Investor sentiment weakened after the Reserve Bank of India left key interest rates unchanged and maintained a neutral policy stance, signalling caution amid global trade headwinds. The Nifty slipped below the 24,600 mark, weighed down by losses in pharma, healthcare and IT stocks.

The S&P BSE Sensex declined 166.26 points or 0.21% to 80,543.99. The Nifty 50 index fell 75.35 points or 0.31% to 24,574.20. In two consecutive sessions, the Sensex declined 0.59% and the Nifty shed 0.60%.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 2.33%), Bajaj Finance (down 1.67%) and Infosys (down 1.64%) were major drags on the Nifty today.

The ...