Sensex ends down 67pts at 18,048

The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 113 points at 18,228, and touched a high of 18,257 in early deals. The index, however, could not hold gains as profit-taking at higher levels saw the index slip into negative zone.

Profit-taking was seen mostly in technology, oil & gas and realty stocks. The index dropped to a low of 17,901 - down 356 points from the day's high - in mid-noon trades.

A fresh round of buying in FMCG scrips - Hindustan Unilever and ITC - helped the index recover some loss and eventually end (provisional) with a loss of 67 points at 18,048.

The index had gained around 1,500 points in the last three trading days last week.