Brokers said that the fall in the market was mainly due to profit taking at higher levels by operators, the split in Samata party, one of the allies in the BJP-led coalition government at the centre and the year end considerations.

Reflecting the downtrend, the 30-scrip BSE Sensex opened at 3,749.15 points, touched the day's high of 3,783.77 points, fell below the psychological barrier of 3,700 and touched the day's low of 3,670.09 points before closing at 3,672.71 points, showing a net loss of 71.47 points as against the previous close of 3,744.18 points.

"The Market having risen from the level of 3,400 on February 27 has tested a high of 3,818. Profit booking was obvious and imminent today and this is exactly whathappened one day before the end of the settlement. "The undertone remains bullish and the market is expected to take support at around 3,617 levels which is a 33 per cent retracement. The market remains bullish and this is a healthy correction today", said Malay Sameer in fund management at Apple Mutual Fund.

"The pressure was also expected since the current account happened to be the last settlement of the financial year 1998-99 that had compelled the players to square up their positions and the market was headed for such a correction. Players were having long-term positions and preferred to unwind it before the year end", said Dilip Bhat, a BSE broker. According to brokers, the last trading session on Friday is likely to witness volatile activity which depend on movements on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) that is open for trading on Thursday.

In the gainers' list, Finolex Cable, ICICI, Videocon International, BPL Ltd, Tata Chem and Godrej Soaps hit the circuit filter after exhausting the daily limit.Pentafour Software firmed up by Rs 14 to Rs 1213.50, Satyam Computer dropped by Rs 59.20 to Rs 1557.75, ITC by Rs 16.75 to Rs 997.75, SBI by Rs 14 to Rs 209, Tata Tea by Rs 25.25 to Rs 465, HLL by Rs 50 to Rs 2180, Novartis by Rs 34.25 to Rs 946.50 and RIL by Rs 5.60 to Rs 131.60.

Barring a few side stocks, equities drifted further downwards pushing the Sensex down by over 71 points on sustained selling pressure from operators as well as domestic financial institutions (FIs). "Software shares continued to be in demand by investors while bank shares were marginally lower on reducing positions. The holiday tomorrow for the local festival and the ensuing last settlement for the financial year kept players at bay reducing their investments", said a broker.

Total turnover on the BSE shot up to Rs 2,577.01 crore. Pentafour Software topped the list of turnover by registering the highest turnover of Rs 552.07 crore, followed by Satyam Ccomputers Rs 343.84 crore, ITC Rs 266.58 crore, SBI Rs 124.33 crore and TataTea Rs 121.70 crore.