The Sensex gained 22 points to open at 4,028. Sharp buying rally across-the-board in early deals lifted the index to a high of 5,053, but slipped into a range-bound mode on steady buying support as the trading progressed.

The markets, however, witnessed a sharp turnaround towards the closing bell, as relentless selling pressure in old and new economy stocks (barring auto stocks) dragged the index below the 5,000 levels to touch a low of 4,941.

The Sensex finally ended 57 points down at 4,949. The Nifty also ended lower with a loss of 24 points at 1,580.

While only 5 Sensex stocks advanced, 24 declined and one remained unchanged on Thursday. The volume of shares traded and traded value totalled 3.34 crore (33.4 million) and Rs 1,302 crore (Rs 13.02 billion), respectively.

Reliance slipped from higher levels, and closed down a per cent (Rs 6) at Rs 477. The counter logged a volume of over 21.44 lakh (2.14 million) on the BSE with a turnover of Rs 103 crore (Rs 1.03 billion). While HLL was down a rupee at Rs 181, ITC, however, ended with a modest gain of Rs 5 at Rs 853.

SBI witnessed heavy selling towards the fag-end, and dropped 2% (Rs 12) to Rs 466. The banking major surged to a volume of over 13.24 lakh (1.32 million) on the BSE with a value of Rs 62 crore (Rs 620 million). HPCL lost a per cent (Rs 3) to Rs 335, while BHEL closed down a rupee at Rs 460. MTNL dipped Rs 2 to Rs 112, on the back of a volume of over 12.71 lakh (1.27 million) on the BSE.

Infosys at Rs 4,727 (down Rs 123 or 2%), Wipro at Rs 1,420 (down Rs 34 or 2%) and Satyam at Rs 324 (down Rs 6 or 2%) displayed south-ward trend on sharp selling pressure. More than 86 lakh (8.6 million) Satyam shares were traded on the BSE with a turnover of Rs 285 crore (Rs 2.85 billion).

Gujarat Ambuja (down 5% or Rs 15 to Rs 266), ACC (down 3% or Rs 7 to Rs 228) and L&T (down 2% or Rs 7 to Rs 411) slipped deep into the red. Grasim, however, ended with a per cent gain (Rs 11) at Rs 924.

While Cipla lost nearly 2% (Rs 18) to Rs 1,151, Dr. Reddy's ended off-gains at Rs 1,272 (down Rs 6), after reporting gains for better part of the trading session. Ranbaxy also ended weak with a loss of Rs 4 at Rs 994.

Bajaj remained firm in a lacklustre market, and clocked nearly 2% gains (Rs 16) to Rs 939. While Hero Honda closed up a rupee at Rs 385, Tata Motors ended flat at Rs 374. However, Tata Motors clocked a volume of over 37.61 lakh (3.76 million) on the BSE with a turnover of Rs 142 crore (Rs 1.42 billion).

ONGC at Rs 640 (down 3% or Rs 20), Tata Power at Rs 252 (down Rs 10 or 45), Tisco at Rs 356 (down Rs 8 or 2%), Hindalco at Rs 1,193 (down Rs 10 or 1%), HDFC at Rs 524 (down Rs 10 or 2%), Bharti at Rs 83 (down 3% or Rs 3) slumped heavily on sustained selling pressure. Over 38.25 lakh (3.82 million) Tisco shares changed hands on the BSE with a value of Rs 138 crore (Rs 1.38 billion).

Zee also lost a per cent (Rs 2) at Rs 140. ICICI Bank, however, after touching an intra-day high of Rs 255, closed up a tad at Rs 249, with volumes surging over 25.71 lakh (2.57 million) on the BSE.

HCL Tech dropped 8% (Rs 20) to Rs 230 on sustained selling pressure. Moser Baer lost 6% (Rs 33) to Rs 545. While Mastek slipped 3% (Rs 8) to Rs 233, Digital declined 2% (Rs 12) to Rs 565. i-flex and Hughes, however, gained 2% each to Rs 685 (down Rs 14) and Rs 465 (down Rs 11), respectively.

BoB dropped 6% (Rs 11) to Rs 183. Federal Bank and BOI slipped 3% each to Rs 179 (down Rs 6) and Rs 60, respectively. PNB and Canara Bank lost 2% each to Rs 131 (down Rs 3) and Rs 183 (down Rs 4), respectively.

IBP and IOC lost 2% each to Rs 800 (down Rs 14) and Rs 393 (down Rs 9), respectively. BPCL was down a per cent (Rs 3) at Rs 356.

Balaji Telefilms slumped 5% (Rs 4) to Rs 71. While Padmalaya Telefilms dropped nearly 4% (Rs 3) to Rs 85, Mukta Arts lost 2% to Rs 59. Saregama was down a per cent at Rs 53. Sri Adhikari, however, shot up 7% (Rs 5) to Rs 71.