The Sensex opened 65 points lower at 13,482 on weak cues from other Asian markets. Persistent weakness, thereafter, saw the index slip deeper into red as the day progressed.
Realty, metal and banking stocks bore the brunt of the selling pressure today. The Sensex dropped to a low of 13,054, and finally settled with a loss of 445 points at 13,102.
The BSE Realty index slumped 6.3% (243 points) to 3,597. The Metal index shed 4.8% (475 points) at 9,502, and the Bankex dropped 4.3% (293 points) to 6,571.
The market breadth was extremely negative - out of 2,673 stocks traded, 2,170 declined, 444 advanced and the rest were unchanged today.
INDEX SHAKERS...
Ranbaxy slumped 8% to Rs 272.
Sterlite, ICICI Bank and Grasim tumbled around 6% each to Rs 447, Rs 561 and Rs 1,761, respectively.
Hindalco, Mahindra & Mahindra, BHEL and DLF plunged around 5% each to Rs 99, Rs 531, Rs 1,551 and Rs 370, respectively.
Tata Steel, Reliance Communications and Maruti shed nearly 5% each at Rs 461, Rs 348 and Rs 671, respectively.
HDFC Bank, SBI, Larsen & Toubro and Infosys dropped around 4% each to Rs 1,246, Rs 1,434, Rs 2,468 and Rs 1,448, respectively.
HDFC and ONGC slipped 3.5% each to Rs 2,089 and Rs 1,035, respectively.
Reliance Infrastrcuture, Reliance, NTPC and Tata Motors were down around 3% each to Rs 850, Rs 1,961, Rs 174 and Rs 373, respectively.
...AND THE MOVERS
ITC surged 2% to Rs 192, and Hindustan Unilever was up over 1% at Rs 253.
VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS
Reliance Capital topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 478.70 crore followed by Reliance (Rs 373 crore), Axis Bank (Rs 170.40 crore), Jai Corp (Rs 167.55 crore) and Larsen & Toubro (Rs 144.55 crore).
IFCI led the volume chart with trades of around 96.75 lakh shares followed by Anant Raj Industries (87.80 lakh), Reliance Natural Resources (85.80 lakh), Sesa Goa (82 lakh) and Idea Cellular (65.80 lakh).
