The Sensex on Wednesday opened 12 points higher at 5,086, and immediately edged past the 5,100-mark to touch an early high of 5,105 on strong buying support. However, the market soon slipped into the red, dragging the index to an intra-day low of 5,045.

The Sensex, after displaying an intra-day movement of 60 points, finally ended with a loss of six points at 5,070. The Nifty, which touched a high of 1,609 in early deals, shed 7 points to close at 1,594.

ONGC slumped 2.48% (Rs 17) to close at Rs 684. SBI dropped 2% (Rs 9) to Rs 433. BHEL lost 3.64% (Rs 19) to Rs 515. HPCL was down a per cent (Rs 3) at Rs 312. MTNL was down a rupee at Rs 128.

ITC declined 1.54% (Rs 16) to Rs 1,035. Reliance attracted decent buying support, and moved up 1.19% (Rs 6) to Rs 470. HLL was up a rupee at Rs 122.

Infosys rose nearly 2% (Rs 29) to Rs 1,508. Satyam mopped up 1.87% gains (Rs 6) to Rs 330. Wipro was up 1.45% (Rs 8) at Rs 527.

Auto, cement and pharma stocks, however, ended on a lacklustre note.