Broad-based selling towards the closing bell saw the Sensex tumble to a low of 6,633 before recouping slightly to end with a loss of 43 points at 6,657.
The Nifty slipped below the 2,100-mark and shed 12 points to close at 2,097.
Reliance slumped 2.12% (Rs 12) to Rs 560. While ONGC lost a per cent (Rs 8) to Rs 903, HLL declined 2.44% (Rs 3) to Rs 130. ITC was down 1.11% (Rs 15) at Rs 1,297.
SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank slipped a per cent each to Rs 722 (Rs 6), Rs 560 (Rs 6) and Rs 409 (Rs 4), respectively.
Bajaj tumbled 1.71% (Rs 18) to Rs 1,063. While Maruti dropped 4.37% (Rs 20) to Rs 428, Tata Motors declined 2.35% (Rs 11) to Rs 450. Hero Honda was down a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 535.
Grasim plunged 3% (Rs 39) to Rs 1,253, and Gujarat Ambuja was down 1.24% (Rs 5) at Rs 418. ACC, however, was up a rupee at Rs 361.
While Cipla lost a per cent (Rs 3) to Rs 273, Dr. Reddy's ended with a per cent gain (Rs 4) at Rs 722. Ranbaxy was up a rupee at Rs 1,073.
Infosys advanced 1.65% (Rs 36) to Rs 2,236. While Satyam added 1.30% (Rs 5) to Rs 406, Wipro slipped into the red in late trades to close at Rs 685 - down Rs 2.
Bharti remained firm through the session and added 2% (Rs 4) to Rs 212. Zee gained 1.52% (Rs 2) to Rs 137.
Select bank stocks logged gains today. Allahabad Bank zoomed 11% to Rs 100 - a gain of Rs 10. Vijaya Bank advanced 6% to Rs 70. Federal Bank moved up 4% to Rs 166. BoB, BoI, State Bank of Bikaner and State Bank of Travancore also finished with gains.
UTV dropped 11% (Rs 19) to Rs 150. Jet was down a per cent at Rs 1,221.
The broad market returned to bearish mode after the brief rally on Friday. Out of the 2,461 scrips traded on the BSE, 1,373 declined, 1,029 advanced and 59 finished unchanged today.
Ispat topped the volume chart with trades of over 1.18 crore shares on the BSE followed by SAIL (1.15 crore) and TVS Motor (86 lakh shares).
Reliance led the BSE value chart with a turnover of Rs 79.56 crore followed by SAIL (Rs 79.47 crore) and Jet Airways (Rs 72 crore).
