Brokers said that the UTI fiasco continued to affect the market sentiment. Reports that IDBI and Bajaj Auto have applied for redemption in the US-64 scheme further dampened the market sentiment. FIIs pressed sales in pivotals while UTI reportedly made small purchases.

A fresh fall in the world stock markets mainly at Tokyo, Hong Kong and discouraging trend at the London also aided the downtrend. Operators discounted repeated statements by the Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha in support of the UTI and his reported warnings to FIIs. They picked up shares on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on the last day and sold them on the BSE.

On the NSE pivotals declined further on increased selling by FIIs. The S&P CNXNifty declined by 19.05 to end at 816.75 from the last level of 835.80. The total volume of business was Rs 1,706.43 crore. The exchange witnessed 202 shares advance, 793 shares decline and 73 shares remain unchanged. 63 securities hit their price bands.