The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 24 points at 6,328, and immediately moved up to a high of 6,337. The index could not hold gains, and selling at higher levels saw it drift into negative zone in early noon deals.

The selling pressure intensifed in late noon deals, and the index dropped to a low of 6,221 - a drop of 116 points from the intra-day high.

Selective buying at lower levels saw the Sensex close with a loss of 71 points at 6,233.

The Nifty dropped 23 points to 1,967.

Declining Sensex stocks outnumbered advances today. While 26 scrips declined with a volume of 1.55 crore totalling Rs 767 crore, four managed to close in positive zones with a volume of 21 lakh for Rs 99 crore.

Reliance declined more than 2% (Rs 12) to Rs 499. ITC was down Rs 9 at Rs 1,268. SBI slipped nearly 2% (Rs 10) to Rs 595. Infosys dropped Rs 11 to Rs 2,030. HLL was down a rupee at Rs 145.

Auto scrips were weak today. Maruti, which had rallied nearly 5% yesterday, lost nearly 2% (Rs 7) to close Rs 438. Bajaj was down Rs 11 at Rs 1,019, and Tata Motors declined Rs 6 to Rs 483.

Cement stocks cracked under selling pressure. Grasim lost Rs 12 to Rs 1,192. Gujarat Ambuja and ACC also declined.

Reliance Energy tanked 6.5% (Rs 35) to Rs 506. HDFC Bank, which filed its ADR documents yesterday, slipped more than 2% (Rs 10) to Rs 466. HDFC was down Rs 15 at Rs 762. HPCL, which declared a 50% interim dividend yesterday, was down nearly 3% (Rs 10) at Rs 371. ONGC slipped Rs 11 to Rs 820.

BHEL was firm in a falling market, and the scrip advanced more than 2% (Rs 13) to Rs 680. Tata Power was up Rs 8 at Rs 354. Wipro gained Rs 7 to Rs 746. Satyam was up Rs 2 at Rs 407.