In choppy trade, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today closed down by moderate 20 points though heavyweight Reliance Industries snapped two days of losses and ended in green.
After swinging between positive and negative terrain during the day, the BSE barometer closed at 9015.18 points, lower by 19.82 points from its last close.
For a second day in a row, the Sensex fell below the psychologically important 9,000 level as it plunged to day's low of 8,922.31 points. With today's loss of 20 points, the Sensex extended losses to 620 points in three straight days.
The 30-share BSE index is down 6.7 per cent so far this year after slumping more than half in 2008.
However, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty managed to close higher by 5.65 points at 2,776.15 as heavyweight Reliance Industries and housing developer DLF recorded handsome gains.
Reliance Industries, which has the highest weight in the main index, rose by Rs 27.15, or 2.14 per cent at Rs 1,294.75 on BSE, after falling 8.9 per cent in the last two sessions.
Banking stocks, which had been falling this week on concerns about profit margins and a rise in bond yields dropped further on renewed fears about the health of the global financial sector. Bank sector index suffered the most by losing 103.88 points at 4,479.49.
