Nifty, Sensex lose steam, firm rupee drags IT

(Reuters) - Indian shares erased earlier gains to close little changed on Wednesday, with a firm rupee weighing on IT and healthcare stocks, while private sector lender ICICI Bank Ltd rose to a record close.

The broader NSE Nifty closed 0.06 percent lower at 10,576.3, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was down 0.01 percent at 35,141.99.

The rupee pared some early gains clocked on the back of weak global oil prices and the central bank's announcement a day earlier that it would buy bonds via open market operations.

Software services exporters such as Infosys Ltd and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd declined 1.9 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively, dragging the Nifty IT index index 2.45 percent lower.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd fell 7.4 percent to its lowest close since June 7 after posting a surprise second-quarter loss in the previous session.

Oil marketers Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd climbed 4.7 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively, on weak crude prices.

HDFC Bank Ltd climbed 1.6 percent and ICICI Bank rose 1.6 percent, while Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd declined 3.1 percent.

(Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)