Sensex down 604pts; ITC drops 6%

The Sensex is now down 604 points at 19,647.

The NSE Nifty is down 208 points at 5,866.

HDFC Bank and Reliance Communications have tumbled 6.5% each to Rs 1,668 and Rs 728, respectively.

ITC has slumped 5.5% to Rs 204. Hindalco, NTPC and Reliance Energy have plunged over 5% each to Rs 188, Rs 260 and Rs 2,246, respectively.

Tata Steel, BHEL and DLF have dropped over 4.5% each to Rs 812, Rs 2,306 and Rs 1,122, respectively.

Maruti and Tata Motors have shed around 4% each to Rs 834 and Rs 738, respectively.

Satyam has slipped over 3% to Rs 376. Reliance and ONGC have dropped 2.7% each to Rs 3,074 and Rs 1,243,  respectively.

SBI, Ranbaxy and ACC have declined over 2% each to Rs 2,360, Rs 381 and Rs 855, respectively.

HDFC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro and Wipro are down around 2% each to Rs 2,842, Rs 720, Rs 3,982 and Rs 451, respectively.

Bharti Airtel and TCS have advanced over 1% each to Rs 868 and Rs 949, respectively.

The market breadth is extremely negative - out of 2,785 stocks traded so far, 2,340 have declined, 419 have advanced and 26 are unchanged.