Sensex down 261pts; breadth fairly +ve

The Sensex is now down 261 points at 19,770.

Bharti Airtel has plunged nearly 5% to Rs 906.

ONGC, Tata Motors and TCS have tumbled 3.3% each to Rs 1,198, Rs 721 and Rs 1,010, respectively.

HDFC Bank has shed 3% at Rs 1,678. NTPC and Hindalco have dropped 2.7% each to Rs 240 and Rs 207, respectively.

SBI and BHEL have slipped 2.4% each to Rs 2,352 and Rs 2,500, respectively.

ITC has soared nearly 3% to Rs 206. Cipla has gained 2.3% at Rs 214.

The market breadth is fairly positive - out of 2,843 stocks traded so far, 1,917 have advanced, 898 have declined and 28 are unchanged.