The Sensex, after opening with a positive gap of 19 points at 5,924 and marginally inching up to touch an intra-day high of 5,927 in early deals, soon drifted into the red.

The index, which slipped below the 5,900-mark in early deals, displayed a subdued trend till early noon deals as select old and new economy stocks moved in a range-bound mode.

Though the index slightly recovered from their lows on buying in cement and select auto pivotals by mid-noon deals, relentless selling pressure towards the closing hours in tech, heavyweight, PSU, pharma and other select stocks dragged it to an intra-day low of 5,824.

The Sensex closed with a loss of 61 points at 5,844. The Nifty also ended lower, shedding 16 points to 1,862.

While 11 Sensex stocks advanced, 19 declined on Thursday.

Tech stocks were battered today. Infosys slumped 2.83% (Rs 155) to close at Rs 5,335. While Satyam lost 2% (Rs 7) to Rs 327, Wipro also slipped from higher levels to finish in the red at Rs 1,598 - down Rs 7.

Zee tanked 9% (Rs 13) to close at Rs 131.

Heavyweight and PSU majors largely finished with losses. Reliance dipped 1.25% (Rs 7) to Rs 566. HLL was down a per cent (Rs 2) at Rs 151. ITC, however, finished with a marginal gain of Rs 2 at Rs 1,087.

While HPCL lost 1.55% (Rs 8) to Rs 515, BHEL ended 1.36% lower (Rs 9) at Rs 641. MTNL mopped up 2.21% gains (Rs 3) to Rs 145. SBI closed up a rupee at Rs 638.

Hindalco (down Rs 47 or 3.48% to Rs 1,292), ONGC (down Rs 7 to Rs 872), Tisco (down Rs 10 or 2.42% to Rs 394), Tata Power (down Rs 5 or 1.19% to Rs 406) and Bharti (down Rs 5 or 2.93% to Rs 169) buckled under sustained selling pressure.

Dr. Reddy's came under sustained selling pressure, and dropped 6.43% (Rs 62) to Rs 900. Ranbaxy also ended weak with a loss of 1.89% (Rs 20) at Rs 1,020. Cipla, however, ended with gains at Rs 1,228 - up Rs 21 or 1.73%.

Cement and auto stocks ended in the limelight due to sustained buying support. Gujarat Ambuja advanced 4.22% (Rs 13) to Rs 330. While ACC added 2.60% (Rs 7) to Rs 274, Grasim moved up 1.20% (Rs 14) to Rs 1,173. L&T, however, ended down a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 609.

Bajaj advanced 1.76% (Rs 16) to Rs 907. While Hero Honda ended with a modest gain of Rs 2 at Rs 503, Tata Motors closed up a tad at Rs 510.