Unabated selling in afternoon trades saw the index pared gains and drop to a low of 15,991- down 642 points from day's high. Realty, PSU, power and banking stocks were hit the most.
The index finally ended (provisional) with a loss of 424 points at 15,991.
The market breadth was negative - out of 2,706 stocks traded so far, 2,058 declined, 597 advanced and 51 were unchanged today.
The NSE Nifty ended (provisional) with loss of 154 points at 4,716.