Mumbai, Sep 23 (IANS): The Indian stock market settled on a flat-to-negative note after a largely volatile trading session, with the BSE Sensex closing 65 points lower.

The indices gradually traversed into negative territory after a gap-up opening, before paring losses and ending marginally lower. The Indian equity indices ended in the red for the fifth consecutive session on Wednesday.

The BSE Sensex closed at 37,668.42, lower by 65.66 points, or 0.17 per cent, from the previous close of 37,734.08.

It had opened at 38,124.94 and touched an intra-day high of 38,140.07 and a low of 37,313.09 points.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange settled at 11,131.85, lower by 21.80 points, or 0.2 per cent, from its previous close.

Among the sectoral indices, heavy selling was witnessed in the BSE Telecom index which was down 7.36 per cent.

Telecom major Bharti Airtel's shares declined the most on the Sensex on Wednesday. Its shares plunged nearly 8 per cent to close at Rs 433.90 per share on the BSE.

Shares of both telcos Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) were under pressure on Wednesday after Reliance Jio announced a range of postpaid plans with several benefits, to take on both Airtel and Vodafone Idea in the postpaid segment.

On the outlook for the market, Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said: "Going forward, the market would continue to consolidate in the near term as investors keep a close watch on the rising Covid cases and delay in US stimulus."