The Sensex on Monday opened 18 points higher at 5,856. After touching an intra-day high of 5,867 in early deals, the index soon slipped into the red and displayed a range-bound trend till early noon deals.
Selling gained momentum by mid-noon deals as a steep downfall across-the-board saw the index slipping below the 5,800-mark to an intra-day low of 5,760.
The Sensex finally pared some losses on selective buying support and finished the day with a loss of 55 points at 5,784. The Nifty also ended in the red at 1,838 - down 15 points.
Reliance witnessed weak trends throughout the day, and lost 2% (Rs 12) to Rs 561. ITC shed 1.45% (Rs 16) to Rs 1,075. HLL, however, closed up a rupee at Rs 150.
HPCL dipped 1.41% (Rs 7) to Rs 514. SBI finished down a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 619. While BHEL moved up 2.55% (Rs 16) to Rs 652, MTNL gained 1.63% (Rs 2) to Rs 140.
Infosys remained weak throughout the session and dropped 3.25% (Rs 173) to Rs 5,140. Wipro also witnessed selling in its counter, and shed a per cent (Rs 13) to Rs 1,452. Satyam, however, bucked the downtrend, and moved up 1.72% (Rs 5) to Rs 316.
L&T slumped 2% (Rs 12) to Rs 596. While Grasim declined 1.18% (Rs 13) to Rs 1,122, Gujarat Ambuja lost 1.57% (Rs 5) to Rs 306. ACC, however, closed up a rupee at Rs 264.
Hero Honda (down Rs 8 or 1.65%) slipped from higher levels to finish in the red. While Bajaj was down Rs 5 at Rs 883, Tata Motors ended with a loss of Rs 3 at Rs 499.
Hindalco (down Rs 27 or 2% to Rs 1,307), ONGC (down Rs 12 or 1.40% to Rs 875), Reliance Energy (down Rs 8 to Rs 774), HDFC (down Rs 9 or 1.37% to Rs 655) and HDFC Bank (down Rs 6 or 1.60% to Rs 375) ended with losses. Zee, however, was up 1.65% (Rs 2) at Rs 141.
Cipla gained 1.69% (Rs 20) to close at Rs 1,199. Dr. Reddy's was up a per cent (Rs 8) at Rs 964. Ranbaxy, however, ended with a marginal loss of Rs 2 at Rs 1,042.