Sensex down 178pts; ITC drops 4%

The Sensex is now down 178 points at 12,871.

Grasim has crashed over 8% to Rs 2,054. ACC has tumbled 6.4% to Rs 780, and Gujarat Ambuja has plunged 4.5% to Rs 108.

ITC has shed nearly 4% to Rs 154. Reliance Communications and BHEL have dropped around 3.5% each to Rs 419 and Rs 2,102, respectively.

Dr.Reddy's, Cipla and Tata Motors have slipped around 2.5% each to Rs 660, Rs 230 and Rs 751, respectively.

NTPC has surged 2.7% to Rs 140.

Out of 2,389 stocks traded so far, 1,353 have declined, 971 have advanced and 65 are unchanged.