Stock markets pared early gains and settled lower in volatile trade on Tuesday due to fag-end selling in banking and telecom stocks. Closing in red for the third straight day, the BSE Sensex fell 166.33 points or 0.21 per cent to close at 78,593.07. The benchmark index opened sharply higher and rallied further 1,092.68 points or 1.38 per cent to hit day’s high of 79,852.08.