Mumbai, April 25 - A benchmark index for Indian equities markets closed 56 points lower Wednesday in choppy trade ahead of April futures and options expiry Thursday and after rating agency Standard & Poor's cut India's growth outlook from stable to negative.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened in the positive at 17,225.54 points, closed at 17,151.29 points, down 0.33 percent or 56 points from its previous close at 17,207.29 points.

The 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also ended the day 0.40 percent down at 5,202 points.

Broader markets were quiet too with the BSE 500 index closing 0.44 percent down. The BSE midcap index closed 0.55 percent lower, while the BSE small cap index ended 0.53 percent down.

The BSE TECk index that represents frequently traded stocks in telecom, media and telecommunications sectors, declined 0.91 percent at 3,232.15 points.

Scrips of India's third largest IT company Wipro fell 7.29 percent to Rs.410.15 after it reported muted guidance for the April-June quarter.

The other main Sensex losers were Gail India, down 3.35 percent at Rs.336.60, BHEL, down 2.32 percent at Rs.231.80, TCS, down 1.92 percent at Rs.1,172.30, and Coal India, down 1.81 percent at Rs.349.65.

Among the top gainers were Bharti Airtel, up 2.25 percent at Rs.313.25, Hero MotoCorp, up 1.92 percent at Rs.2237.50,

Sterlite, up 1.89 percent at Rs.107.80, Maruti Suzuki, up 1.23 percent at Rs.1382.25 and HDFC Bank, up 0.96 percent at Rs.546.90.