In volatile trade, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Tuesday lost 186 points to end below the crucial 20,000 level as investors liquidated holdings to invest in mega initial public offerings of Coal India.

The 30-share index fell sharply in the last 30 minutes of trade to settle at 19,983.13 points, reflecting a loss of 185.76 points over the previous close.

The barometer shuttled between 20,332.02 points and 19,923.96 points during the day.

In the similar fashion, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 48.65 points to close at 6,027.30 points.

Every rise in the stock prices was encashed by investors, who were moping up funds to invest in the country’s largest initial public offering by Coal India Ltd.

Selling pressure was more confined to IT and tech stocks, led by Infosys Technologies after International Business Machines reported a drop in new contracts.

In the 30-BSE index components, 24 stocks declined while six ended in positive zone.

IT, tech, realty and metal stocks suffered the most while gains in pharma, auto and FMCG shares saved the market from any major fall.

As the investors rush to pick fundamentally strong shares with low-cost, the small and midcap sector index rose by 0.24 percent each to 10,638.96 and 8,291.68 points respectively.