Sensex down 465pts; breadth -ve

The Sensex is now down 465 points at 18,816.

ICICI Bank has slumped 6% to Rs 1,098. NTPC has plunged 4.5% to Rs 249.

Larsen & Toubro, Maruti and BHEL  have tumbled nearly 4% each to Rs 4,165, Rs 971 and Rs 2,552, respectively.

Reliance and HDFC Bank have shed 3.7% each to Rs 1,728 and Rs 1,573, respectively. Hindalco has dropped 3.4% at Rs 188.

Mahindra & Mahindra has slipped 3% to Rs 709. SBI and ITC declined 2.7% each to Rs 2,215 and Rs 191, respectively.

Tata Steel, DLF, Grasim, Ranbaxy, Tata Motors and Wipro are the other major losers.

Out of 2,795 stocks traded so far, 1,892 have declined, 854 have advanced and 49 are unchanged.