The BSE sensitive index (Sensex) dropped from the intra-day high of 3642.66 to a low of 3554.38 before closing at 3597.58 with a sizeable loss of 85.11 points compared to the Wednesday's close of 3682.69. The BSE-100 index lost substantially by 33.95 points to 1585.90 from the previous close of 1619.85.

Brokers said operators who had huge outstanding positions offloaded heavily right from the resumption of trading to square up their positions at the last day of the current settlement in the wake of reports of high badla on the Calcutta Stock Exchange on Thursday. However, FIIs were reportedly buyers in HDFC Bank, ITC and Hindustan Lever and local institutions. The total turnover was Rs1832.05 crore. Pentafour Software was the most active with a volume of Rs 347.23 crore followed by Satyam Computer Rs 201.20 crore, ITC Rs 136.64 crore, Tata Tea Rs 117.45 crore and Reliance Rs 61.41 crore. Pentafour Software declined by Rs 10.75 to Rs 1076.25, Satyam Computer by Rs 82.25 to Rs 1390.75, ITC by Rs 38.50 to Rs 918.25, Reliance Rs 6.60 to Rs 120.40, SBI by Rs 10.70 to Rs 206.20, Telco by Rs 10.30 to Rs 167 and Tisco by Rs 6.50 to Rs 100.70. However, Tata Tea gained by Rs 12.25 to Rs 470.25, Hindustan Lever by Rs 3 to Rs 2225 and Infosys by Rs 37.50 to Rs 2707.50 on short covering.