<b>Recovery continues... </b>Sensex down 766pts

The Sensex continues to recover from the early morning jolt wherein the index hit the lower circuit at 17,308. The index is now down 766 points at 18,286.

Reliance Energy has slumped 9.7% to Rs 1,719. Bharti Airtel has tumbled 7.5% to Rs 1,028, and SBI has shed nearly 7% to Rs 1,077.

NTPC has dropped 6.5% to Rs 216. HDFC, Mahindra & Mahindra and ACC have slipped over 6% each to Rs 2,410, Rs 764 and Rs 1,190, respectively.

Maruti, SBI and BHEL have declined 5.5% each to Rs 1,121, Rs 1,819 and Rs 2,265, respectively.

ITC, Tata Steel, ONGC and Bajaj Auto are down around 5% each to Rs 176, Rs 860, Rs 1,118 and Rs 2,417, respectively.

TCS has surged 2.6% to Rs 1,096, and Satyam has gained 1.7% at Rs 458. Infosys is up nearly 1% at Rs 1,885.

The market breadth is extremely negative - out of 2,369 stocks traded so far, 1,857 have declined, 478 have advanced and 34 are unchanged.