Mumbai, Sep 20 (IANS): Nifty opened lower with a gap on Wednesday and fell through the day to end lower for the second session, said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.

At close, Nifty was down 1.15 per cent or 231.9 points at 19901.4, while the Sensex reported a loss of 796 points, or 1.18 per cent, to settle at 66,800.84.

The markets fell with volumes on the NSE that were close to the highest in recent times. Broad market indices recovered part of the losses during the day and ended with lower losses than the Nifty even as the advance decline ratio fell to 0.54:1, Jasani said.

Global shares were mixed on Wednesday as markets awaited a decision on interest rates by the US Federal Reserve. Surging oil prices, however, unnerved investors as this could force central banks to either keep raising rates or keep them higher for long, he said.

Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said all sectors ended in the red. Weak global cues, surge in oil price to nearly one-year high, and selling by FIIs are major concerns in the market, he said.

"However, strong domestic economic data continue to support the market at lower levels. We expect the market to remain cautious in the near term amid major events, while profit booking in the broader market is likely to continue," Khemka said.

Apart from the US Fed rate outcome expected late on Wednesday, two other large central banks. i.e., Bank of England and Bank of Japan are scheduled to announce their policy decision on Thursday.