The Sensex opened higher on firm Asian trends and remained in positive terrain touching a high of 17432 but sudden selling in the last hour pulled the benchmark down and it finally settled to 17,301.91 points.
Today's loss comes after three days of straight gains in which the Sensex had risen by 188.14 points or 1.1 per cent.
Tata Motors was the top loser from the Sensex pack at 3.82 per cent following a decline in sales in April 2012 and contributed over 25 points to the 30-share index's fall.
Besides Tata Motors, ITC, L&T, ONGC, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Power, Bajaj Auto, Coal India and NTPC also ended with up to 3 per cent losses.
However, HDFC Bank, TCS, HUL and Bharti Airtel counters witnessed good buying support on promising earnings and cushioned the Sensex fall to some extent.
Auto, power and capital goods stocks suffered losses while some of the consumer durables, tech and IT counters were in demand.
The NSE broad-based 50-issue Nifty also eased by 9.00 points or 0.17 per cent to 5,239.15. (MORE) PTI VMP RSU KSR
