India's key share market index finished moderately lower Friday, after rebounding by nearly two percent in the previous session, as investors dropped heavyweight equities on worries over surging global oil prices.

Dealers said the stock market opened for the day on a cautious note as a depressed US market and high crude oil prices in the global marketplace forced investors to stay on the sidelines of the trading ring.

The market index moved within a close range in the early trade in the absence of any institutional buying before slipping into the red on profit booking in shares of refining and automobile companies.

Reflecting the cautious market sentiment, the stock market barometer 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange sensitive index or Sensex closed at 6,173.82, a loss of 47.24 points or 0.76 percent from its previous session's close.

The market index had staged a smart recovery Thursday and it finished with gains of nearly two percent, snapping massive institutional selling pressure in the previous three consecutive sessions.

"The market was mainly pulled down into the negative zone today by the rising global crude oil prices and a lukewarm investor mood in all major stock markets overseas," said an equity market analyst with a domestic fund management company.

"With foreign investments also showing signs of slowing down after touching a record high in the previous year, investors are taking a cautious view of the market at this point of time," added the analyst.

In the old economy sector, shares of Hero Honda Motors, the country's largest motorcycle maker, lost nearly six percent to touch Rs.524.45 on institutional selling pressure after the company unveiled its quarterly results that fell below street expectations.

For the quarter ended Dec 31, Hero Honda Motors registered an 8.1 percent rise in the net profit to Rs.2.18 billion on total income of Rs.20.43 billion. The company's profitability was impacted due to rising input costs and higher competition in the motorcycle segment.

Bajaj Auto, a leading two-and-three wheeler maker, fell 4.2 percent to Rs.1,066.05 and Maruti Udyog, the country's largest carmaker, closed with a loss of 4.1 percent at Rs.419.40.

Index heavyweights such as State Bank of India, the country's largest commercial bank, ended 2.4 percent down at Rs.578.45, state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp was down 1.2 percent at Rs.779.50, and Reliance Industries closed with a loss of 1.3 percent at Rs.513.35.

Other major losers in the segment included Tata Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra, Tata Power, Reliance Energy, Grasim Industries, Associated Cement Companies, and Tata Steel.

In the technology sector, shares of Infosys Technologies, India's largest second largest software exporter, ended 0.5 percent higher at Rs.1,976 and Tata Consultancy Service, the biggest software firm, rose 0.3 percent at Rs.1,296.95.