Among Sensex constituents, HCL Tech suffered the most by diving 2.26 per cent, followed by HDFC shedding 2.10 per cent.
The Sensex breached the 6,500-mark in the afternoon trades following a sharp surge in heavyweights and other select counters.
Most of the session's gains for both the indices were wiped out as investors rushed to book profits ahead of F&O expiry on Thursday and also due to concerns over stretched valuations.
The 30-share Sensex ended down 538 points at 26,781 and 50-share Nifty ended down 152 points at 8,067.
HDFC, ONGC, Maruti Suzuki, HeroMoto Corp and Bajaj Auto gained the most on BSE Sensex
Systematic withdrawal plans in equity funds can spell trouble in a falling market, points out Deepesh Raghaw.
In absolute terms, the year closed with the market capitalisation of all BSE-listed companies rising by Rs 45.5 lakh crore to Rs 152 lakh crore, or an increase of 42.8 per cent, compared to the closing value on December 30, 2016, says Pavan Burugula.
The biggest losers in the Sensex pack were Vedanta, Tata Steel, M&M, Tata Motors, Maruti, Hero MotoCorp, PowerGrid, Bharti Airtel, SBI and Coal India -- falling up to 4.48 per cent.
The bull market peak came in March 2015, at a Nifty intra-day value of 9,119.
Liquidity pushed benchmark indices 22% higher to become the best performing equity market globally
The NSE Nifty ended at 4,551, up 121 points. The breadth improved towards the end of the day, out of 2,826 shares traded, 1,494 advanced and 1,290 declined on Tuesday.
Most experts said indices would open higher on Monday and rally might sustain for a few sessions
Bubbles can inflate indefinitely and also burst, with deep corrections, warns Devangshu Datta.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
BSE Auto was the top sectoral loser with a 4.6% fall followed by realty sector down 3.7% and consumer durables 3.6% post disappointing IIP numbers
The trade-war between the US and China is prompting investors to flee from risky assets, such as equities, to safe-haven bets, such as gold and treasuries
On the contrary, the fall in the US markets was lower with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones both declining by around 9 per cent and 6 per cent respectively, while emerging markets lost around 18 per cent during the month. Pessimism in the financial markets following the filing for bankruptcy by Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch's sell-off, the AIG bailout and perceived uncertainty around the US bailout package added to investor fears.
Top gainers from the Sensex pack are ONGC, HDFC, HUL, RIL and Cipla.
Analysts say markets to be impacted by monsoon, inflation trajectory.
The 30-share BSE Sensitive index or Sensex slipped below 13,000-mark. At 1450 hrs, Sensex was down 526 points at 12,936. a loss of almost 4 per cent compared to Thutsday's close.
Rise in investor sentiment, return of risk appetite aid shares across the board
2014 was a great year for Sensex which never looked back and climbed high significantly.
The bias for the Sensex is likely to remain bearish as long as the index sustains below 18,900-odd levels. On the downside, the index could slide to 17,300-odd levels
Heavy offloading by foreign portfolio investors also weighed on the rupee
It's been a roller-coaster ride since 2015 Budget.
Analysts attribute this outperformance to the government's proactive economic reform measures
Ajit Mishra, Vice President, Research, Religare Broking, answers readers' queries on stocks they own or want to buy.
Sensex gains 2.4%, Nifty crosses 7,000; investors feel exit polls have vindicated their stand
Since 2005, in 8 out of 10 years (except in CY11 and CY14) the benchmark indices have given positive returns in December.
Similarly, the wide-based 50-issue CNX Nifty of the NSE jumped 109.30 points, or 1.46 per cent, to end above 7,500-mark for the first time at 7,583.40.
'When you have surplus cash flow and markets correct sharply, what options do you have other than buying good stocks?'
This was at a meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council, chaired by him. Chidambaram, set to resign on Friday to make way for his successor, called upon the regulators and the ministry to be ready and take necessary action.
The benchmark index on Wednesday surged 314.92 points or 1.05 per cent to close at 30,248.17 on widespread buying spurred by forecast of a normal monsoon this year.
Debt funds have exposure of nearly Rs 8,000 crore to Zee group papers. Aditya Birla MF, HDFC MF, Franklin Templeton MF, and ICICI Prudential MF have the highest exposure, reports Samie Modak.
The NSE Nifty too closed up 20 points at 3523.
The 30-share Sensex ended down 297 points at 27,438 and the 50-share Nifty closed 93 points lower at 8,305.
Market breadth depicted gains with 1,476 advances over 1,403 declines on the BSE. 140 stocks remained unchanged.
There has been no reboot of the private investment cycle.
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