The Sensex is now down 188 points at 8,855. Earlier in the day, the index opened 99 points lower at 8,944, and then slipped to a low of 8,823.
Reliance Communications has slumped 3.8% to Rs 157, and Sterlite has plunged 3.4% to Rs 248.
ICICI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra and HDFC have shed 3.3% each at Rs 350, Rs 281 and Rs 1,347, respectively.
Reliance has tumbled nearly 3% to Rs 1,257. Tata Steel, Infosys, Larsen & Toubro and Tata Power have dropped 2.3% each to Rs 168, Rs 1,180, Rs 626 and Rs 735, respectively.
Reliance Infrastructure, TCS, Wipro and ONGC have also slipped over 2% each to Rs 497, Rs 479, Rs 216 and Rs 666, respectively.
Grasim, Ranbaxy and Hindalco are down 1.8% each at Rs 1,349, Rs 204 and Rs 39, respectively.
The market breadth is very negative - out of 2,022 stocks traded so far, 1,329 have declined, 595 have advanced and the rest are unchanged.
