Sensex down 465pts; ITC slumps 5%

The Sensex opened with a negative gap of 351 points at 17,271, and soon slipped deeper into red. The index touched a low of 17,008, and is now down 465 points at 17,113.

The NSE Nifty is down 144 points at 5,079.

ITC has plunged over 5% to Rs 192, and ICICI Bank has slumped 4.7% to Rs 1,040.

SBI has tumbled nearly 4% to Rs 2,028. Wipro has shed 3.5% at Rs 419.

Ambuja Cements, BHEL and Bharti Airtel have slipped over 3% each to Rs 117, Rs 2,208 and Rs 799, respectively.

Infosys and HDFC have dropped 3% each to Rs 1,501 and Rs 2,720, respectively.

Bajaj Auto and Maruti have advanced around 1% each to Rs 2,302 and Rs 875, respectively.