The Sensex, which witnessed volatility throughout the trading session, slipped deeper into the red towards the closing hours on steep decline in PSUs, heavyweights, cement and pharma stocks, and finally ended 39 points lower at 4,235.

The Nifty also lost 16 points to 1,342.

Infosys at Rs 4,315 (up Rs 119 or 3%) and HCL Tech at Rs 166 (up Rs 3 or 2%) held on to their gains and ended in the limelight. Infosys registered volumes of more than 400,000 on the BSE with a turnover of Rs 215 crore (Rs 2,150 million). Satyam, however, closed down a rupee at Rs 241, after remaining in the positive zone for the better part of the trading session.

ITC, which fared well in the opening trades, slipped on selling pressure and lost nearly 2% (Rs 12) to Rs 781. Reliance and HLL, too, had a mixed outing and ended down a per cent each at Rs 405 (down Rs 4) and Rs 185 (down Rs 3), respectively.

HPCL reeled under selling pressure through the trading session, and lost 5% (Rs 17) to Rs 328. While SBI dropped 3% (Rs 13) to Rs 425, MTNL ended 2% lower at Rs 115. BHEL, after a prolonged stay in the negative zone, drifted into the green towards the closing hours and added Rs 2 to Rs 362.

Grasim (down 3% or Rs 18 to Rs 598), ACC (down 5% or Rs 10 to Rs 190), Gujarat Ambuja (down Rs 3 to Rs 212) and L&T (down 3% or Rs 8 to Rs 298) ended with steep losses on sustained selling pressure.

While auto stocks ended on a divergent note, pharma stocks exhibited weakness on sharp selling pressure.