Brokers said the sentiment was further affected due to profit-taking in view of end-account and due to technical considerations of the market. There were other factors like subdued results by some pharma companies and ongoing indefinite transporters strike all over the country which affected the sentiment.

Operators were squaring up their positions by selling wherever they were long and covering short positions in view of the last day of the current settlement. Fresh sales from foreign institutional investors (FIIs) in pharma and Infosys stocks saw Dr Reddy's Lab and E Merck hitting the lower circuit filter.

Of the 152 traded specified scrips, 104registered sharp to moderate losses while 45 showed gains and three remained unchanged. Satyam Computer was the most active scrip with a turnover of Rs 316.46 crore of the total volume of business of Rs 2983.81 crore.

The market leader Satyam Computer dropped by Rs 61.15 to Rs 1464.25, Ranbaxy Rs 33.80 to Rs 1016.20, Global Tele by Rs 5.70 to Rs 660.35, Glaxo by Rs 46 to Rs 800, Hindustan Lever by Rs 60 to Rs 2290, Infosys by Rs 209.50 to Rs 7170.50, Mahindra by Rs 8 to Rs 372, NIIT by Rs 150.40 to Rs 2139.10 and Novartis by Rs 35.50 to Rs 1157.