Sensex ends down 18pts at 14,862

Continuing with the bullish trend in the market, the Sensex opened with a positive gap of 53 points to 14,933 and soon rallied to a fresh all-time intra-day high of 14,963.

However, profit-taking at higher levels saw the index slip into the negative zone. The intensity of the selling pressure was so high that the index plunged to a low of 14,731 - down 232 points from the day's high.

The index, thereafter, consolidated in a range of 14,780-14,830 for most part of the trading day. Fresh buying in late trades saw the index erase almost all its losses before settling at 14,862 - marginally down by 18 points.