The index, however, could not hold gains as persistent selling in banking, cement and realty stocks dragged the index into the negative zone. Heavy selling in the Reliance counter in late noon trades saw the index slide to a low of 13,405 - down 467 points from the day's high.
The Sensex finally ended (provisional) with a loss of 397 points at 13,405.
The NSE Nifty shed 111 points to end (provisional) at 4,025.