Sensex down 167pts; BHEL, REL plunge 6%

The Sensex opened with a negative gap of 52 points at 10,521. The index soon tumbled to a low of 10,275 - down 298 points from the previous close.

The index is now down 167 points at 10,406.

BHEL and Reliance Energy (REL) have tumbled over 6% each to Rs 1,850 and Rs 499, respectively.

Bharti Tele has shed 5% to Rs 352.

Tata Power and HDFC are down around 4% each at Rs 510 and Rs 1,143, respectively.

HDFC Bank, Dr.Reddy's, Hindalco, Gujarat Ambuja and Maruti have declined over 3% each.

No index stock is in the positive zone.