Mumbai, May 2 (IANS) Sensex closed below the 39,000 mark on Thursday, marked by heavy volatility in specific stocks. The fear-index or the 'VIX' surged over 5 per cent.

Analysts said the volatility was also high owing to the mixed quarter earnings and tepid auto sales.

Sensex ended 50.12 points or 0.13 per cent lower at 38,981.4 and the Nifty finished -23.40 points or 0.20 per cent lower at 11,724.75.

Export-oriented IT and pharmaceutical stocks also finished lower as the rupee gained against the US dollar. The rupee closed at Rs 69.36 gaining over 20 paise from its previous close of 69.56.

"The Fed's decision to keep the interest rate unchanged was pro-growth. The Indian markets were volatile and closed lower owing to the domestic factors. Investors are nervous due to heavy stock-specific volatility in scrips like Jet, DHFL etc.." said Saurabh Jain of SMC Global.A

Tata Motors fell 3.3 per cent after reporting a 28 per cent fall in its passenger vehicle sales in April 2019. Jet Airways fell 12.5 per cent after a media report said there was no followup interest shown by bidders for the struggling airline on their offers, said Deepak Jasani of HDFC Securities.