ITC, Reliance, Infosys drag Sensex

Sustained selling pressure in heavyweights, tech, auto and other select old economy stocks has seen the index slip deep into the red. The Sensex, which slipped to a low of 6,537 shorthwhile ago, has lost 39 points to 6,529. The Nifty is down seven points at 2,063.

Advances are still lagging behind the losers, with 1,100 stocks declining and 714 stocks advancing.

ITC has dropped 1.85% (Rs 24) to Rs 1,296. While Reliance, with a volume of over 11.6 lakh, is down a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 527, HLL is down a rupee at Rs 144.

Infosys has shed 1.51% (Rs 31) to Rs 2,043. While Satyam has lost 1.56% (Rs 6) to Rs 408, Wipro is down a per cent (Rs 6) at Rs 747.

Grasim and Gujarat Ambuja are down a per cent each at Rs 1,293 and Rs 399, respectively. ACC is marginally down at Rs 335.

Tata Motors has shed 1.90% (Rs 9) to Rs 499. Hero Honda and Maruti have declined a per cent each to Rs 553 (down Rs 6) and Rs 458 (down Rs 4), respectively.

SBI, with a volume of over 7.6 lakh, is up a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 626.

While ONGC is still up a per cent (Rs 6) at Rs 819, Hindalco is holding on to its gains at Rs 1,431 - up Rs 17 or 1.21%.

Select capital goods and metal stocks have lost ground on selling pressure. Alstom Project has shed 6.21% (Rs 6) to Rs 91. While Fag Bearing has declined 3.22% to Rs 161, Greaves Cotton has lost 3% to Rs 106. Dredging, BEML and HMT are down nearly 3% each at Rs 481, Rs 333 and Rs 45, respectively.

Mukand Iron & Steel has slumped 5.74% (Rs 3) to Rs 49, and Man Industries has dropped 4% to Rs 83. While Lloyd Steel has declined 3.52% to Rs 14.52, Welspun Gujarat has lost 3.43% to Rs 44. Sterlite Indsutries and Jindal Vijaynagar Steel are down nearly 3% each at Rs 622 and Rs 17, respectively. Ispat at Rs 23 (down 2.52%) and Jisco at Rs 344 (down 1.84%) are also trading at lower levels.

Reliance is leading the value chart with a turnover of Rs 58 crore, followed by Tisco (Rs 54 crore), SBI (Rs 44 crore), Tata Motors (Rs 32 crore) and Infosys (Rs 26 crore), respectively.