The Sensex resumed nine points lower over its previous close at 6,457. The market sentiment was extremely bearish in early trades as relentless selling pressure across-the-board dragged the index below the 6,400-mark to an intra-day low of 6,381 - down 85 points from the last close.
Selective buying, particularly, in old economy stocks saw the market pare most of its losses by early noon trades, before a fresh spell of selling pressure pulled the index lower in mid-noon trades.
However, stock-specific gains towards the fag-end saw the Sensex finally end the session with a loss of 19 points at 6,447. The Nifty, too, trimmed losses to end eight points lower at 1,983.
ONGC dropped 1.40% (Rs 12) to Rs 860. BHEL tumbled 2.98% (Rs 26) to Rs 838, and Bharti shed 2.48% (Rs 5) to Rs 214. Hindalco slumped 2.83% (Rs 34) to Rs 1,175.
Infosys lost a per cent (Rs 21) to Rs 2,043, while Wipro finished with a small loss of Rs 2 at Rs 651. Satyam, however, was up a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 434.
Gujarat Ambuja declined 1.43% (Rs 6) to Rs 439, while Grasim slipped a per cent (Rs 12) to Rs 1,123. ACC was down a rupee at Rs 382.
While Reliance gained a per cent (Rs 4) to Rs 530, ITC ended with a steady gain of Rs 6 at Rs 1,485.
SBI advanced 2.41% (Rs 15) to Rs 642. ICICI Bank (down Rs 5 to Rs 391) and HDFC Bank (down Rs 2 to Rs 535) ended on a subdued note.
L&T logged 1.21% gains (Rs 12) to Rs 1,037. While Tata Power added 1.15% (Rs 4) to Rs 364, Tisco was up a per cent (Rs 3) at Rs 357.
Bajaj bounced from its lows to end with a per cent gain (Rs 7) at Rs 1,185. While Hero Honda, too, was up a per cent (Rs 5) at Rs 555, Maruti ended a tad higher at Rs 446. Tata Motors, however, shed 2.22% (Rs 10) to Rs 437.
Dr. Reddy's and Cipla ended marginally lower at Rs 682 and Rs 278, respectively. Ranbaxy, however, clocked a per cent gain (Rs 9) to Rs 970.