Sagging trades continued to exert pressure on the markets, but the Sensex managed to recover some of its losses at 17,941 off 184 points, and the Nifty at 5,401 down 46 points.
On the BSE benchmark, auto major Maruti Suzuki was leading the gains at Rs 1,178, followed by Bajaj Auto at Rs 1,371 and Tata Steel at Rs 599 all up 1%.
Sensex heavyweight Reliance Industries dragged the index down by pulling off 83 points from the Sensex's total loss, on news the oil and gas exploration major may see a drop in oil production. The stock was down nearly 4% at Rs 995, while BHEL at Rs 1,918 and Cipla at Rs 293 both down 2% were the other major losers on the Sensex.
The broader markets were better off than the Sensex, but both, the Mid-cap and Small-cap index were trading flat, but with a negative bias, at 6,516 and 7,834 respectively.
KGN Industries at Rs 117 down 5%, SpiceJet at Rs 39 down 4% and Chennai Petroleum Corp at Rs 199 down 3% were the top losers on the Mid-cap index.
In the Small-cap space, Kolte Patil at Rs 48 down 6%, Gujarat Apollo Industries at Rs 131 and Henkel India at Rs 45 both down 5% were the significant losers.
Metal stocks shone on the BSE sectoral chart, as the Metal index was the only index in the green at 15,372 up 0.5%. Gaining stocks on the index were iron ore mining major NMDC at Rs 281 and Welspun Corp at Rs 205 both up 3%, followed by SAIL at Rs 162 up 2%.
The Oil& Gas index at 9,698 down nearly 3% was the top sectoral loser. RIL was the top loser, while HPCL at Rs 329 was down 3% and BPCL at Rs 563 down 2% were the other major losers.
Even IT stocks witnessed selling pressure, thus pushing the index down 1.5% at 5,993. Tech Mahindra at Rs 717, Wipro at Rs 436 and HCL Technologies at Rs 450 all down 2% were the major losers in this space.
The market breadth was negative, with 1,031 advancing stocks versus 1,530 declining stocks.
