Mumbai, July 23 (IANS) The Sensex on Tuesday slipped below the 38,000 mark for the first time since the Budget was presented on July 5.

Prior to the Budget day, Sensex had surpassed the 40,000 mark, touching a life-time high, but Tuesday's session saw the benchmark Indian equity index closing even below the 38,000 mark.

The Sensex settled 48.39 points lower at 37,982.74 while the broader Nifty closed 15.15 points down at 11,331.05.

"Participants are wary of more turmoil in the financial space and auto space taking longer to recover in the back ground of slowdown in demand and regulatory changes. Hence on a day when all the other markets are in the green, Indian markets ended in the red, though marginally," said Deepak Jasani of HDFC Securities.

--IANS ravi/vd