Sensex crashes 143 pts; ONGC, RIL, SBI drag

The Sensex opened on a flat (up two points) note at 6,513, and snapped gains immediately on the resumption of selling pressure. While the overall market was extremely bearish thereafter, the Sensex plunged deep into the red in latenoon trades and slipped below the 6,350-mark.

After touching an intra-day low of 6,327, the Sensex trimmed its losses on selective buying, and ended the session with a slump of 143 points at 6,368. The Nifty slipped below the 2,000-mark to end at 1,984 - down 45 points.

The market breadth was extremely weak, as declines outpaced advances nearly 4:1. While 1,548 stocks advanced, 326 declined and 43 stocks ended unchanged on the BSE today.

ONGC, which clocked a volume of over 4.91 lakh, dropped 3.17% (Rs 27) to Rs 834. Reliance, with a traded volume of over 22.30 lakh, plunged 3.19% (Rs 18) to Rs 549. While ITC crashed 3.23% (Rs 42) to Rs 1,272, HLL lost 2.56% (Rs 3) to Rs 132.

SBI plummeted 3.77% (Rs 25) to Rs 641, on a traded volume of over 18.82 lakh. While ICICI Bank fell 2% (Rs 8) to Rs 390, HDFC Bank, however, ended with a steady gain of Rs 2 at Rs 537.

Infosys tumbled 1.10% (Rs 24) to Rs 2,167. Wipro and Satyam ended with marginal losses at Rs 642 and Rs 398, respectively.

HPCL scaled down 3.43% (Rs 11) to Rs 300.

Dr. Reddy's slumped 4.24% (Rs 33) to Rs 740. While Cipla declined 2.68% (Rs 7) to Rs 251, Ranbaxy was down a per cent (Rs 9) at Rs 1,063.

Grasim lost 1.59% (Rs 19) to Rs 1,194. While Gujarat Ambuja dipped 2.50% (Rs 10) to Rs 400, ACC was down a per cent (Rs 2) at Rs 357.

Hero Honda slipped 4% (Rs 22) to Rs 519, and Maruti lost 2.30% (Rs 10) to Rs 411. Tata Motors dipped 2.29% (Rs 10) to Rs 408, while Bajaj ended in the green at Rs 1,020 - up Rs 2.

HDFC dropped 2.93% (Rs 21) to Rs 689, and Hindalco declined 2.18% (Rs 29) to Rs 1,281. While L&T tumbled 2.72% (Rs 27) to Rs 982, Tisco, on a volume of over 34.25 lakh, fell 4% (Rs 17) to Rs 401. Tata Power also ended lower at Rs 340 - down Rs 11 or 3.27%.

Bank stocks lost ground today. BoI dipped 7.12% (Rs 8) to Rs 98. While Uco Bank slipped 5.24% (Rs 2) to Rs 28, OBC declined 5% (Rs 16) to Rs 299. Andhra Bank dropped 4.37% (Rs 5) to Rs 104, and PNB lost 4.30% (Rs 17) to Rs 388. Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Vijaya Bank and BoI also ended lower in a range of 2-4%.

Select pharma counters, however, logged gains in a weak market. Panacea Biotech rose nearly 5% (Rs 5) to Rs 109. While Torrent Pharma moved up 3.14% (Rs 13) to Rs 444, Sun Pharma is up nearly 2% (Rs 9) at Rs 476. Dishman Pharma, Aurobindo Pharma, Wockhardt, Glenmark Pharma and Glaxo gained 1-2%.

Tisco led the value chart with a turnover of Rs 139 crore, followed by Reliance (Rs 123 crore), SBI (Rs 122 crore) and Tata Motors (Rs 50 crore), respectively.