Sensex down 478pts; NTPC slips 6%

The Sensex is now down 478 points at 19,772.

The NSE Nifty is down 172  points at 5,903.

HDFC Bank has tumbled 6.7% to Rs 1,666, and Reliance Communications has plunged over 6% to Rs 729.

NTPC has shed 5.5% at Rs 259. Hindalco and Reliance Energy have slumped around 5% each to Rs 188 and Rs 2,249, respectively.

Tata Steel, BHEL and DLF have tumbled over 4.5% each to Rs 811, Rs 2,305 and Rs 1,123, respectively.

ITC, Maruti and Tata Motors have slipped around 4% each to Rs 207, Rs 834 and Rs 740, respectively.

Satyam and Wipro have declined 3.5% each to Rs 374 and Rs 444, respectively.

Reliance and HDFC are down 2.5% each at Rs 3,078 and Rs 2,833, respectively.

TCS and Bharti Airtel have advanced over 1% each to Rs 950 and Rs 866, respectively.

The market breadth is extremely negative - out of 2,775 stocks traded so far, 2,303 have declined, 440 have advanced and 32 are unchanged.