The Sensex opened with a huge negative gap of 245 points at 14,893 on the back of weak cues from the global markets. The index soon tumbled to a low of 14,706 - down 432 points from its last close.
The index witnessed a minor pull back of 100-odd points in noon deals. A fresh round of buying towards the end of the day saw the index recover some more lost ground before settling at 14,903 - down 235 points.
The BSE Realty index plunged over 3% to 7377, and the IT index tumbled over 2% to 4598. The Metal index shed 1.6% to 11,139. The Auto index and Bankex were down 1% each to 4746 and 7963, respectively.
The market breadth was fairly negative - out of 2,669 stocks traded, 1,497 declined, 1,103 advanced and 69 were unchanged today.
Index shakers...
Hindalco, ICICI Bank, Maruti, Reliance Communications and Larsen & Toubro tumbled around 3% each to Rs 157, Rs 888, Rs 825, Rs 532 and Rs 2,449, respectively.
Infosys and Wipro plunged 2.7% each to Rs 1,867 and Rs 458, respectively.
ACC and HDFC dropped nearly 2.5% each to Rs 979 and Rs 1,942, respectively.
Hindustan Unilever, Satyam, Grasim, BHEL and Ambuja Cements slipped over 2% each to Rs 200, Rs 462, Rs 2,897, Rs 1,684 and Rs 126, respectively.
ONGC, HDFC Bank, NTPC, Cipla, Reliance, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Energy also declined today.
...and the movers
SBI soared nearly 3% to Rs 1,682. ITC surged 1.8% to Rs 172. Ranbaxy was up 1% at Rs 370.
Value & volume toppers
IFCI led the value chart with a turnover of Rs 227.80 crore followed by SBI (Rs 219.40 crore), Orbit Corporation (Rs 157.20 crore), Reliance (Rs 146.60 crore) and GMR Infrastructure (Rs 125 crore).
IFCI also led the volume chart with trades of around 3.70 crore shares followed by debutant Alpa Labs (90.65 lakh), Reliance Natural Resources (81 lakh), Nagarjuna Fertilisers (53 lakh) and Managalore Chemicals (50.60 lakh).