Amidst the downfall, the country's largest private sector lender and blue-chip stock ICICI Bank gained a significant 3.53 per cent on Bombay Stock Exchange on its plans to unlock value in its various subsidiaries. The bank's shares in the morning trade scaled an all-time high of of Rs 1,399.90.

The 30-share BSE index in the morning session had touched yet another intra-day trading high of 21,206.77 points.

However, in volatile trade, the index fell sharply after the mid-session and ended the day at 20,582,08, a net fall of 287.70 points, or 1.38 per cent, from its previous close.

The National Stock Exchange index Nifty also tumbled by 115.05 points, or 1.83 per cent, to close at 6,156.95 points.

Commenting on the downturn, Sanjiv Bhambri of Hitech Securities said, "Lots of monies are coming out of the market for investments in the forthcoming mega IPO and new mutual funds, which has become investors prime attraction."

The small-cap index nosedived by 511.32 points to 12,858.63 while the mid-cap index was down 329.54 points to 9,440.45, indicating small-time investors mood ahead of the mega public offer of Reliance Power.