The Sensex, after opening soft on global cues, had recovered to a high of 17,813 on the back of banking and IT shares.
However, the index dropped once again to a low of 17,668 endng finally at 17,705 - down 100 points.
Nifty ended down 34 points at 5,326.
Asian markets ended in the negative zone on Monday.
Hang Seng dropped 0.7% to 19,864.
Seoul Composite and the Straits Times slipped over 1% each to 1,909 and 2,869, respectively.
In Europe, the CAC and DAX dropped 1.5-2% each in trades. FTSE was down 1% at 5,641.
Most of the sectoral indices ended in the red with oil & gas index leading the losses - down 2% at 8,987.
BSE metal and auto indices lost 1-2% each.
Meanwhile, banking and FMCG shares gained smartly after heavyweights came out with their results.
BSE FMCG index added 1% to 4,196 while Bankex gained 0.7% at 11,454.
ICICI Bank reported a net profit of Rs 1,503 crore, up 21.70% from Rs 1,236 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.
Net Interest Income has been declared at Rs 2,506 crore. The stock was down marginally 0.3% at Rs 931.
Among other banking names Dena Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Corporation Bank and Dena Bank came
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