Mumbai, Nov 7 (IANS): For the third straight day, a benchmark index of Indian stock markets closed in the negative territory Thursday on profit-taking in banking, consumer durables and capital goods stocks.

The benchmark, which had crossed its highest so far closing mark in the special Diwali trading held Sunday at 21,239.36 points, has been facing uncertainty due to global and domestic factors.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 20,896.13 points, closed at 20,812.21 points (provisional), down 82.73 points or 0.40 percent from the previous day's close at 20,894.94 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 21,142.85 points and a low of 20,797.06 intra-day.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also declined. It ended at 6,187.25 points, down 27.90 points or 0.45 percent.

Heavy selling pressure was observed in bank, consumer durables and capital goods stocks.

The S&P BSE bank index was down 290.33 points, followed by consumer durables index which was lower by 140.87 points and capital goods index, which lost 123.70 points.

Watch Video