Mumbai, Jul 20 (PTI): Market benchmark Sensex made a U-turn and closed with losses today amid muted corporate earnings. Metal, IT and pharma stocks were at a spot of bother.

Investors turned cautious ahead of quarterly earnings from heavyweight Reliance Industries.

The 30-share index started above the 32,000-mark, but the higher levels gave way as the gauge ended at 31,904.40, down 50.95 points, or 0.16 per cent. It had gained 244.36 points in the previous session.

The 50-share NSE Nifty felt the selling pressure and settled down by 26.30 points, or 0.27 per cent, at 9,873.30. Intra-day, it touched a low of 9,863.45.

"Some dismal first quarter results... erased initial gains and dragged the market down. PSU banks did not offer any support as they seemed disappointed from no updates yet on the banking sector from Parliament's monsoon session," said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services Ltd.

Stock of Reliance Industries was in a tight spot ahead of earnings later in the day.

ONGC, however, went up 1.75 per cent after the Cabinet yesterday approved sale of the government's stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) to India's largest oil producer.

Subdued earnings by Bajaj Auto for the June quarter made investors move with care.

Tata Steel fell the most (2.64 per cent), along with NTPC (1.22 per cent) and Infosys (1.11 per cent).

IT firm Mindtree fell 4.45 per cent following lower-than-expected earnings for the June quarter.

A fresh record closing in the US market on strong earnings and higher oil prices lifted Asian shares. The Bank of Japan in a policy move kept interest rate steady.

In Europe, most markets remained firm in their early session.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,046.65 crore yesterday while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net offloaded shares worth Rs 12.48 crore, as per provisional data.

The mid-cap index fell while small-cap advanced.