The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 24 points at 8,516, and touched a high of 8,565 in noon deals.
Profit-taking at higher levels saw the index drop to a low of 8,466 - an intra-day swing of 99 points. The Sensex finally closed with a loss of eight points at 8,484.
The Nifty lost 7 points to close at 2,567.
ONGC dropped 1.7% (Rs 18) to Rs 1,029. While Reliance was down Rs 5 at Rs 783, SBI declined Rs 12 to Rs 904. ITC, however, was up Rs 2 at Rs 129.
Ranbaxy tanked nearly 5% (Rs 25) to Rs 500. Hindalco declined 3% (Rs 4) to Rs 143. Grasim slipped over 2% (Rs 29) to Rs 1,287. BHEL declined Rs 19 (1.6%) to Rs 1,196.
Maruti slipped Rs 11 to Rs 560. Tata Motors was down Rs 8 at Rs 539. Hero Honda, however, was up Rs 13 at Rs 745.
Tech scrips were firm right through the session, and closed with gains ahead of Q2 results of Infosys and TCS tomorrow. Infosys gained over 2% (Rs 53) to Rs 2,622. TCS was up Rs 4 at Rs 1,449. While Satyam added Rs 10 to Rs 593, Wipro was up Rs 6 at Rs 394.
Dr. Reddy's was up over 2% (Rs 23) at Rs 968. Bharti moved up Rs 7 to Rs 350.