Bharti Infratel was top Nifty loser, the stock fell 8 per cent to close at Rs 212.
The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes slipped in the last hour of trade to end lower on Tuesday. The Sensex fell as much as 453 points from the day's highest level of 38,746.48 and Nifty 50 index briefly slipped below its important psychological level of 11,300. For most part of the day, benchmarks traded firmly higher on the back of gains in Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and HCL Technologies. However, selling pressure in banking, auto, metal and pharma shares wiped out entire intraday gains. Weak European markets also added to the selling pressure, analysts said.
The Sensex ended 52 points or 0.14 per cent lower at 38,365 and Nifty fell 0.33 per cent or 38 points to close at 11,317.
Among the European markets, France's CAC40 index fell 1.2 per cent, England's FTSE 100 index declined 0.18 per cent and Germany's DAX fell 0.81 per cent.
All sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange, barring the index of information technology shares, ended lower led by the Nifty Metal index's 3 per cent fall. Media, banking, auto, pharma, state-run banks, telecom and real estate shares also faced selling pressure.
Mid- and small-cap shares also witnessed selling pressure as Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 1.4 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index dropped 0.87 per cent.
Bharti Infratel was top Nifty loser, the stock fell 8 per cent to close at Rs 212. Zee Entertainment, Tata Motors, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, Grasim Industries, ONGC, Sun Pharma, State Bank of India, Shree Cements, JSW Steel, Dr Reddy's Labs and NTPC were also among the losers.
On the flipside, Bharat Petroleum, HCL Technologies, Infosys, Reliance Industries, Wipro, TCS and Tech Mahindra were among the gainers.
The overall market breadth was extremely negative as 1,717 shares ended lower while 978 closed higher on the BSE.
