Sensex below 6,500-mark, down 60 pts

After witnessing a range-bound (negative) trend till early noon trades, the market under unprecendented selling pressure in most of the counters has tumbled below the 6,500-mark to a low of 6,465.

The Sensex, in current trades, has shed 60 points to 6,468. The Nifty has slipped below the 2,000-mark, and is now down 22 points to 1,991.

Reliance has plunged 2.18% (Rs 12) to Rs 528. While ONGC has dropped 1.61% (Rs 14) to Rs 876, ITC has declined a per cent (Rs 14) to Rs 1,474.

SBI has lost a per cent (Rs 6) to Rs 627. HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank are trading with steady losses at Rs 535 (down Rs 3) and Rs 395 (down Rs 2), respectively.

Infosys at Rs 2,072 (down Rs 5) and Wipro (down Rs 3 to Rs 656) are trading with marginal weakness, after early gains. Satyam, however, is up with a modest gain of Rs 2 at Rs 431.

Bajaj (down Rs 14 or 1.14% to Rs 1,178) is displaying a range-bound trend. While Maruti has slipped 1.44% (Rs 7) to Rs 447, Tata Motors is down Rs 2 at Rs 446.

Tisco has shed 2.12% (Rs 8) to Rs 355. While Tata Power has lost 1.55% (Rs 6) to Rs 363, HPCL is down 1.12% (Rs 4) at Rs 326.