Sensex pares initial gains, ends 45 pts down

Traders said the market sentiment was also hit as the government-BJP stand-off over CAG report on coal block allocation continued even today, signalling the possibility of a washout of the remaining four days in the Monsoon session.

The BSE benchmark index, which jumped to the day's high of 17,509.99, fell back sharply to end with a loss of 45.16 points, or 0.26 per cent at 17,384.40.

Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and Tata Motors pulled the 30-share index down. Jindal Steel, which lost 2.23 per cent led the 17 Sensex losers, followed by Tata Power, Tata Steel and ONGC. ITC was unchanged.

Among the 12 winners, Bajaj Auto gained 3.04 per cent while CIL, Cipla, Bhel gained between 1-2 per cent.

"The Parliament remained disrupted for ninth consecutive day, along with weaker manufacturing data released which shows the numbers at nine-month low levels underpinned the bearish sentiment," said Nidhi Sarswat, Senior Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio.

Brokers said reports that HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI)