The Sensex opened with a negative gap of 10 points at 4,424. Buying in PSUs, pharma, select heavyweights & cement stocks saw the index spurt to an intra-day high of 4,463 in late morning deals.

The market, however, slipped in afternoon trades and the selling gained momentum towards the closing bell. After slipping to an intra-day low of 4,381, the Sensex bounced a tad to finally wrap up the day with a loss of 41 points at 4,393. The Nifty declined six points to 1,403.

While 20 Sensex stocks declined, 10 advanced today. The traded volume and value of the index scrips were lower at 2.58 crore and Rs 890.82 crore, respectively.

PSU frontliners finished with gains today. HPCL traded in positive territory through the session, and logged 2% gains (Rs 9) to Rs 425. While SBI closed up a per cent (Rs 3) at Rs 451, BHEL and MTNL ended flat at Rs 349 and Rs 129, respectively.

Heavyweights and tech pivotals ended with steep losses. ITC at Rs 820 (down Rs 20 or 2%), HLL at Rs 188 (down Rs 5 or 2%) and Reliance at Rs 428 (down Rs 7 or 2%) fell sharply towards the closing bell.

Infosys (down Rs 77 or 2% to Rs 4,215), HCL Tech (down Rs 2 to Rs 211) and Satyam (down Rs 4 to Rs 242) reeled under selling pressure today.

Pharma pivotals, too, eased towards the closing bell. Dr. Reddy's slipped from higher levels to finish down Rs 2 at Rs 1,188. Ranbaxy and Glaxo closed down a tad each at Rs 1,051 and Rs 453, respectively. Cipla, however, remained firm through the session, and moved up 2% (Rs 25) to Rs 1,044.

Cement and auto pivotals also ended on a lacklustre note. Grasim (down Rs 5 to Rs 632), Gujarat Ambuja (down Rs 4 to Rs 230), L&T (down Rs 3 to Rs 304) and ACC (down a rupee to Rs 214) ended at lower levels.

Bajaj and Hero Honda declined a per cent each to Rs 704 (down Rs 5) and Rs 287 (down Rs 4), respectively. Telco ended a per cent lower (Rs 2) at Rs 285.

HDFC, after opening with impressive gains, slipped on sustained selling pressure to finish with a loss of nearly 3% (Rs 13) at Rs 494. While Zee dropped 4% to Rs 104, Tisco closed down a rupee at Rs 259.

Nestle was up a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 584. ICICI Bank traded off-highs to finish up a per cent (Rs 2) at Rs 185.

Oil PSUs ended with impressive gains. IBP (up 5% or Rs 36 to Rs 720), BPCL (up 5% or Rs 16 to Rs 358) and Kochi Refineries (up 5% or Rs 8 to Rs 161) found strong buying support today. IOC rose 2% (Rs 9) to Rs 410. ONGC, however, traded weak and was down a per cent (Rs 8) at Rs 680.

Bank scrips displayed positive trends. Kotak Bank spurted 9% (Rs 20) to Rs 248. PNB notched up 8% gains (Rs 13) to Rs 179. Oriental Bank advanced 6% (Rs 11) to Rs 190. While Federal Bank added Rs 3 to Rs 165, BoB closed up a rupee at Rs 148. Corporation Bank, however, lost 4% (Rs 9) to Rs 215. J&K Bank ended marginally lower at Rs 233.

Wipro traded in negative territory through the session and shed 3% (Rs 42) to Rs 1,221. HCL Infosys slipped from early morning highs and lost 5% (Rs 11) to Rs 222. CMC and Hughes Software slumped 2% each to Rs 468 (down Rs 10) and Rs 348 (down Rs 7), respectively. E-Serve surged 6% (Rs 39) to Rs 730. While Mphasis gained 2% (Rs 9) to Rs 438, Digital ended up a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 538.