The BSE benchmark index closed the day down 51 points at 18,086 and the Nifty shed 18 points to end at 5,420.
The broader markets reacted even more sharply with the smallcap index closing at 8,189, down 0.8% and the midcap index shedding 0.6% to close at 6,762, both underperforming the Sensex down nearly 0.3%
Earlier in the day, markets opened marginally higher tracking firm Asian cues, but immediately turned negative, few minutes after opening as investors turned jittery over earnings growth concerns.
After that the markets turned choppy, dipping to the day's low of 18,021, down 157 points from the opening. Thereafter the markets retraced considerable ground from the lows of early noon.
A K Prabhakar, Senior Vice President Equity Research, Anand Rathi says technically market is looking weak, and 8-10% correction in short term is looking possible and on fundametal basis a good correction would make the market attractive for fresh investment.
Oil stocks had a rough ride due to a slump on the RIL counter which spread across into the oil marketing space too.
Reliance Industries closed down 2% at Rs 901, which was the lowest since February 14, 2011.
The downfall was because of the
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