India's key share market index finished nearly one percent lower Thursday, dragging its loss to the third consecutive session, on sustained institutional profit taking after last few weeks' massive rally.

The stock market barometer 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange sensitive index or Sensex closed at 7,187.70, a loss of 60.21 points or 0.83 percent from its previous session's close.

The market benchmark had touched an all-time closing high of 7,306.74 Monday on large-scale across the board institutional buying.

India's blue-chip equities had soared sharply higher in the last couple of weeks' trade on hopes that a normal monsoon would boost economic growth in the current fiscal year in Asia's fourth largest economy.

The market sentiment had also been boosted by hopes that most of the blue-chip old as well as new economy companies would post robust earnings growth in the April-June quarter.

Dealers said that the stock market opened Thursday on an optimistic note after closing over half a percentage lower in the previous session.

The market, however, failed to maintain its positive momentum for long and slipped into the negative zone in the intra-day trade as investors rushed to pocket gains at the prevailing levels.

"The market mood has turned very cautious ahead of the announcement of big ticket corporate results in the days ahead," said an analyst with a domestic brokerage firm.

Experts say after Infosys' lower than expected results Tuesday, investors are now taking a realistic view of valuations and preferring to consolidate their portfolios at the existing levels.

While Bangalore-based Infosys Technologies Tuesday reported a 37-percent rise in its April-June quarterly profit, the numbers were below expectations. The company also made cautious earnings forecast for the coming quarters.

A host of heavyweight companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Hero Honda Motors and Wipro will start unveiling their financial results for the April-June quarter in the days ahead.

In the technology sector, shares of Tata Consultancy Services, the country's largest software exporter, ended nearly four percent lower at Rs.1,220 and Infosys Technologies fell three percent to Rs.2,133.75.