Sensex down 159pts; Zee zooms 7%

The Sensex is now down 159 points at 11,676.

Earlier in the day, the Sensex slumped to a low of 11,345 - down 490 points in early trades following Sebi's order on the IPO scam. However, it recovered most of its losses and touched a high of 11,803.

Cipla has plunged 5.4% to Rs 246. Hindalco has dropped 4% to Rs 209, and Tata Steel has declined 2.7% to Rs 622.

HLL has shed nearly 4% to Rs 276. Grasim is down over 3% at Rs 2,291.

NTPC has surged 2% to Rs 132. ACC and Bharti Tele have spurted over 1% each to Rs 945 and Rs 406, respectively.

Out of 2,351 stocks traded so far, 1,649 have declined, 657 have advanced and 45 are unchanged.

Zee Tele has zoomed 6.6% to Rs 263. Hinduja TMT, Micro Inks, Dabur, Escorts, Tata Elxsi, NTPC, Hindustan Zinc Aditya Birla Nuvo and Bharat Electricals are the other major gainers.

Moser Baer has dropped nearly 6% to Rs 224. JSW Steel, SAIL, National Fertilisers, Dena Bank, ING Vysya Bank, FACT and Sterlite Optical are the other major losers.