Sensex down 145pts; BHEL, SBI drop 3%

The Sensex is now down 145 points at 17,970.

The NSE Nifty is down 53 points at 5,250.

Tata Motors has plunged 3% to Rs 728. BHEL and SBI have shed 2.7% each at Rs 2,200 and Rs 2,237, respectively.

Satyam has tumbled 2.3% to Rs 428. TCS, Wipro, ONGC and DLF have dropped nearly 2% each to Rs 855, Rs 413, Rs 1,015 and Rs 863, respectively.

ITC and Reliance have slipped around 1.5% each to Rs 200  and Rs 2,549, respectively. Grasim is down 1.3% at Rs 2,776.

The market breadth is fairly positive - out of 2,674 stocks traded so far, 1,627 have advanced, 983 have declined and 64 are unchanged.