Mumbai: After a brief overnight rally, the market once again turned weak ending down by 26 points as domestic investors reacted negatively to the possibility of a hike in prices of petrol and diesel.

However, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), which reported net investments of Rs 232 crore in the first two days of the week, were believed to be good buyers at the day's lower levels.

Starting off on a strong footing at 5733.35, the BSE Benchmark 30-share later fluctuated erratically in a range of 5758.11 and 5673.75 before ending the day at 5686.73 as against yesterday's (Oct 14, 2004) close of 5713.10, a net fall of 26.37 points or 0.46 per cent.

The market staged a partial recovery at the fag end of the session on reports that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) may consider slashing customs duty on petrol and diesel, temporarily ruling out any hike in petroleum products.

The sentiment was also aided by fresh fall in inflation as well as Wipro's announcement of excellent working results for the second quarter.

Inflation continued its downward trend for the third successive week, dipping by 0.18 per cent to 7.2 per cent in the week ended October two while Wipro beat the market expectations and posted a 79 per cent jump in Q2 net profits.

FIIs reportedly absorbed part of sales made by domestic mutual funds, which remained fairly heavy sellers in the week.

Blue chip shares including HDFC, GACL, L&T, Wipro, Satyam Computers, Infosys Tech, HLL, Bajaj Auto and Hero Honda showed sharp falls on heavy selling pressure.