The Nifty lost 45 points to settle for the day at 5,348, up 19 points from the day's low of 5,329.
On the Sensex chart, Sun Pharma was the top loser, followed by Maruti, L&T, Hero Motocorp, Infosys, ONGC and RIL.
The Nifty shed 18 points to end at 5,420.
Nifty shed nine points to close at 5,541.
The benchmark indices surged by as much as 9% during the past week till Thursday to post their highest returns in 21 months, buoyed by the upbeat sentiment on the global market front.
The market breadth was negative. Out of 2940 stocks traded on the BSE, there were 1392 advancing stocks as against 1449 declines.
The Sensex, which had soared by around 600 points in the aftermath of the FM's speech, surrendered more than 400 points from intra-day highs and slipped below the 18k mark to end up a mere 122 points at 17823 and the Nifty ended up 30 points at 5333.
The broader markets underperformed; the midcap index ended at 6662, down 133 points and the smallcap index ended at 8131, down 193 points.
Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Bajaj Finance, ONGC, Yes Bank, HDFC, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, TCS, ICICI Bank and RIL, rising up to 3.57 per cent.
Nifty PSU bank index dropped nearly 2%
The European indices, including the FTSE, CAC and DAX, had trading in a directionless manner in the middle of the day.
The Nifty ended at 5416, down 4 points. The market breadth was weak. Out of 3045 stocks traded on the BSE, there were 1293 advancing stocks as against 1640 dcelines.
The Nifty ended below the 5700 mark at 5691, down 33 points.
The IT index had a cracker of a time to spurt around 2% and emerge as the leading gainer on the BSE.
On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors bought Rs 446 crore worth of domestic stocks on Thursday and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 49.68 crore, provisional data available with BSE suggested.
The indices had recovered from its lowest in four-weeks after investors took to bargain hunting in select sectors in mid-morning trades but dropped following weakness in banking space.
The Nifty is down 33 points at 6,046. Earlier the day, the Sensex had opened in the green but quickly pared its initial gains on back of selling pressure in banking and auto shares.
The NSE Nifty was down 66 points at 6,080. In the broader markets, the midcaps and the smallcaps indexes were also down 1% each.
Several factors, like fear of FII withdrawals, high inflation numbers, telecom scam, RBI warning, etc, saw the markets plummet on Thursday.
The market breadth was negative. 1153 stocks had declied while 804 had advanced.
Investor wealth zoomed over Rs 10.48 lakh crore in two days as the Budget-driven market euphoria continued to charge bulls on Tuesday.
The NSE Nifty ended at 6075, up 13 points, thanks to strength in the oil, IT and realty stocks.
Of the total 3096 stocks traded,1796 stocks have declined while 1155 have advanced on the BSE.
The Sensex swung in a range of nearly 200 points before ending virtually unchanged at 20104, lower by 12 points and the Nifty ended at 6029, down six points.
Nifty shut shop at 5,860, up 65 points. There was a quantum leap in the advance tax figures for the second quarter of the 2010-11.
The Nifty ended at 5486, up 14 points. The market breadth was positive. Out of 3055 stocks traded on the BSE, there were 1847 advancing stocks as against 1080 declines.
Investors were seen in a cheerful mood and widened their positions in frontliners as well as midcap and smallcap stocks to mark the beginning of their new accounts
The Nifty gained 72 points at 5,486. Market breadth was positive. 1671 stocks advanced as compared to 1272 declines.
The Nifty ended at 5420, down 40 points. The market breadth was weak. Out of 3059 stocks traded on the BSE, there were 1208 advancing stocks as against 1739 declines.