The global cues remained mixed.
The rupee lost some of its sheen against the dollar to over five-week low of 65.87 (intra-day) on sustained capital outflows, which hit market sentiment.
Disappointing earnings by blue-chips, including Tata Steel and Bank of Baroda, weighed too, fuelling selling pressure, brokers said.
Shares of drug firm Dr Reddy's Laboratories slumped 14.65 per cent after the company said it has received a warning letter from USFDA on quality control at its three manufacturing units in India.
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On the other hand, shares of SBI rose nearly 3.86 per cent after the country's largest lender posted a 25 per cent growth in stand-alone net profit for the second quarter ended September.
"Exit polls are indicating that the NDA giving a tough fight to JDU-led alliance in Bihar has made investors cautious," said Manoj Choraria, a Delhi-based NSE stock broker.
The Sensex resumed lower, but quickly rebounded before finishing at 26,265.24 due to profit-booking, a loss of 38.96 points, or 0.15 per cent -- its weakest closing since October 1.
The broader NSE Nifty after recapturing the crucial 8,000-mark hit a high of 8,002.65 in early trade, but finally settled down 1.15 points, or 0.01 per cent, at 7,954.30.
For the week, the Sensex lost 391.59 points, or 1.46 per cent, and the NSE Nifty dropped 111.50 points, or 1.38 per cent -- their second straight weekly fall.
Meanwhile, FPIs sold shares worth Rs 991.87 crore yesterday, provisional numbers showed.
Among others, GAIL, Vedanta Ltd, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, BHEL and ICICI Bank all fell.
A mixed trend prevailed in Asia as investors closely tracked a US jobs report that could shed light on which way the US Fed would move on interest rates in coming days.