Buying towards the close saw the Sensex close with a loss of 37 points at 10,045 - off its intra-day low of 9959.
The Nifty lost 11 points to close at 3,009.
Cipla was the star performer among the Sensex stocks. The stock soared to a high of Rs 560 before closing with a sharp gain of 8% at Rs 553.
Around l lakh shares changed hands at the counter on the BSE. The stock has appreciated over 25% (Rs 111) in the last five trading days following the announcement made by the company that it would consider a proposal for bonus issue in its board meet on February 11.
NTPC surged 2.2% to Rs 122, and Tata Power gained 1% at Rs 497.
Hero Honda and Maruti rallied over 1% each to Rs 885 and Rs 765, respectively. Bajaj Auto was up 1% at Rs 2,200. Tata Motors, however, slipped 1.5% to Rs 751.
While Infosys spurted over 1% to Rs 2,903, Wipro plunged 2.4% to Rs 508.
Tata Steel slumped 4% to Rs 392. Hindalco shed 1.8% to Rs 165.
Larsen & Toubro dropped 3% to Rs 2,205. Dr.Reddy's declined 2.2% to Rs 1,192. ITC ended with a loss of 1.3% at Rs 159.
ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank slipped over 1% each to Rs 618 and Rs 763, respectively.