The benchmark indices closed the session mildly on the lower side amid extreme volatility. The Sensex broke the 9,000 mark during the day. Shares of oil exploration, telecom, private banking, select power and auto stocks remained under pressure. However, technology, capital goods, metal, OMCs stocks as well as SBI, Ambuja Cements, ACC supported the markets.

The markets shut shop on a weak note for the fourth day in a row today. A fall in the European markets was another reason that kept the Indian markets slightly on the negative side during the second half.

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The whole Reliance pack - out of which six stocks are listed on the Nifty - took a huge beating on the bourses. Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group stocks like Reliance Infrastructure tumbled 0.89%, and Reliance Capital down 6.74%, Reliance Communication down 6.74%, RNRL fell 7.94% and Reliance Power lost 5%. Reliance Petroleum, Reliance Industries and Reliance Industrial Infrastructure from the Mukesh Ambani group tumbled 2.49%, 1.85% and 1.34% respectively.

The Sensex touched an intrday low of 8,992.92 before closing the day at 9,071.36 down 38.69 points or 0.42% from the previous close. The 50-share NSE Nifty ended with a loss of 28.15 points or 1.02% at 2744.95 after hitting a low of 2720.80.

Another big event of the day was the Q3FY09 results of IT bellwether Infosys Technologies. It reported better-than-expected numbers - its net profit went up by 14.6% at Rs 1,641 crore and revenues up by 6.8% to Rs 5,786 crore. However, the company lowered its guidance for the fourth quarter as well as full year FY09. The stock jumped 6.36%.

The BSE IT Index gained 96.64 points or 4.71% at 2,147.69. Wipro went up 6.05% while TCS was up 2.16%.

Another technology stock that was in the news today was Rolta India. The stock went down over 50% during the day and hit a new 52-week low of Rs 42.40 on huge volumes. But after the management clarification, the stock recoverd from lows of the day and closed with a loss of 17.7%.

Satyam Computer Services also tanked 9%, after a big jump in Monday's trade.

However, Oil & Gas Index underperformed other indices, down 1.78% or 99.69 points at 5,488.64. ONGC slipped 3.47% and Reliance Inds down 1.67%. However, oil marketing companies like HPCL, BPCL and IOC went up 3.6-4.2%. Crude February Futures was trading at around USD 36-37 a barrel on the NYMEX.

Bankex fell 60.53 points or 1.17%, to close at 5,126.25. ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra and HDFC Bank lost 1.6-2.7%. However, SBI gained 1.76%.

Selling was also seen in the metal space but the benchmark players ended higher, index tumbled 56.46 points or 1.15% at 4,854.89. Hind Zinc, Guj NRE Coke, Sesa Goa, Jindal Steel, Hindalco, JSL and JSW Steel went down 2.3-8.5%. However, Tata Steel, NALCO, Sterlite Inds and SAIL closed up over 1%.

Power stocks also took beating. CESC, Suzlon Energy, Reliance Power, GMR Infra, Torrent Power, NTPC and Power Grid Corp lost 1.5-7%. Power Index was down by 19.10 points or 1.11% at 1,696.36.

Pharma stocks like Glenmark, Dr Reddys Labs, Sun Pharma Advanced, Cipla and Wockhardt were losers. Healthcare Index ended with a loss of 21.26 points or 0.75% at 2,822.58.

Capital Goods Index fell 41.73 points or 0.65% at 6,394.92, but the leading players ended higher. Siemens was down by 11.69%. Punj Lloyd and ABB lost over 4%. However, BHEL went up 1.08% and L&T up 0.72%.

Auto Index was down by just 3.99 points or 0.16% at 2,494.19. Tata Motors, Bharat Forge, M&M and Ashok Leyland tumbled 1-4%. However, Hero Honda and Maruti Suzuki rose 1.4-2.3%.

FMCG and Realty indices ended flat at 1,970.88 and 1,775.71, respectively.

Market breadth was in favour of declines due to weak broader indices: about 999 shares advanced while 1,791 shares declined. Nearly 115 shares remained unchanged.

Among the broader indices, BSE Midcap Index lost 1.43% or 43.60 points at 3,006.41 and Small Cap Index slipped 1.51% or 52.90 points at 3,442.35.

In the midcap space, Tanla Solutions, Bombay Rayon, Sintex India and Jet Airways tumbled 9-18%. Among the small cap stocks, Balmer Invest, Sanghi Ind, Piramal Life, BL Kashyap and Sakthi Sugars fell 10-14%.

Sugar pack was also looking weak today; Balrampur Chini, Bajaj Hindusthan, Sakthi Sugars, Uttam Sugar, Uppar Ganges and Oudh Sugar were down 3-10%.

Volumes were pretty lower in today's trade; total turnover traded was at Rs 51,291.76 crore. This includes Rs 9,442.82 crore from NSE Cash segment, Rs 38,378.33 crore from NSE F&O and the balance Rs 3,470.61 crore from BSE cash segment.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mixed. Nikkei lost 4.79%. Shanghai and Hang Seng tumbled 2%. Straits Times lost 0.81%. However, Kospi and Taiwan gained 1-1.76%.

European markets were trading sharply lower for the fifth day in a row. CAC and DAX went down over 2%. FTSE fell 1.7%, at 4 hours IST.

US futures were also down. The Dow Jones Futures slipped 68 points at 8,376 and Nasdaq Futures lost 10 points at 1,196.

Asian markets are trading mixed. Nikkei fell 4% and Shanghai lost 1.2%. However, Hang Seng, Kospi and Taiwan gained 0.4-0.6%. Straits Times went up 1.6%.