Sensex down 55pts; breadth fairly -ve

The Sensex is now down 55 points at 17,792.

HDFC has plunged 4% to Rs 2,489. ICICI Bank has shed 2.5% at Rs 1,060.

Wipro has slipped nearly 2% to Rs 462, and Infosys has dropped 1.5% to Rs 1,973.

HDFC Bank, TCS, Grasim and ITC are down 1% each at Rs 1,407, Rs 1,069, Rs 3,610 and Rs 185, respectively.

Reliance Energy has soared nearly 3% to Rs 1,491. NTPC has surged 2% to Rs 221, and Ranbaxy has gained 1.8% at Rs 447.

BHEL has advanced 1.5% to Rs 2,105, and Maruti has added 1.3% to Rs 1,033.

Reliance and Larsen & Toubro are up around 1% each.

The market breadth is fairly negative - out of 2,455 stocks traded so far, 1,442 have declined, 969 have advanced and 44 are unchanged.