Sensex back in red, down 8pts; breadth turns -ve

The Sensex has slipped back into the negative zone and is now down eight points at 14,500.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has soared 6.6% to Rs 1,980. HDFC has rallied 2% to Rs 1,849, and SBI has advanced 1.7% to Rs 1,345.

Bajaj Auto and NTPC have surged around 1.5% each to Rs 2,224 and Rs 163, respectively.

HDFC has shed 2% at Rs 1,122. ITC and Reliance Energy have dropped around 1.5% each to Rs 162 and Rs 547, respectively.

Reliance Communications and Hindalco have slipped 1.3% each to Rs 514 and Rs 143, respectively.

HLL, Grasim, Infosys, Satyam and TCS are down 1% each at Rs 200, Rs 2,480, Rs 1,931, Rs 467 and Rs 1,219, respectively.

The market breadth has turned negative - out of 2,498 stocks traded so far, 1,251 have declined, 1,170 have advanced and 77 are unchanged.