The Sensex opened 25 points lower at 9,205. After the initial nervousness the index rebounded into the positive zone and rallied to a high of 9,341. The index, however, could not hold gains and slipped back into the negative zone.
The selling pressure intensified in mid-noon trades mainly on account of significant weakness in technology, realty and energy stocks. The index tumbled to a low of 8,915 - down 427 points from the day's high.
The Sensex finally ended with a loss of 265 points at 8,964.