Mumbai, April 16 -- The domestic stock markets erased their opening gains on Thursday and ended marginally lower as selling pressure and profit booking weighed on investor sentiment.

The NSE Nifty 50 index closed at 24,196.75, down by 34.55 points or 0.14 per cent, while the BSE Sensex ended at 77,988.68, declining by 122.56 points or 0.16 per cent.

Market experts noted that the indices started the session on a positive note but failed to sustain higher levels due to persistent selling during the day.

Sudeep Shah, Head - Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities, said the benchmark index witnessed a gap-up opening supported by global cues but came under pressure near intraday highs.

"Persistent profit-taking was seen across...