Sensex down 612pts; BHEL, RIL drops 5%

The Sensex is now down 612 points at 14,389.

Tata Steel has slumped 9% to Rs 583. Bharti Airtel has plunged over 6% to Rs 805.

BHEL has tumbled 5% to Rs 1,604. ICICI Bank, SBI, Reliance and Reliance Communications have shed 4.7% each to Rs 835, Rs 1,538, Rs 1,746 and Rs 500, respectively.

Hindalco has dropped 4.4% to Rs 147. ONGC, HDFC Bank and Reliance Energy have slipped 4% each to Rs 819, Rs 1,101 and Rs 724, respectively.

Larsen & Toubro has delcined 3.7% to Rs 2,332. Tata Motors, Maruti, Cipla, TCS and Mahindra & Mahindra are down over 3% each.

Out of 2,696 stocks traded so far, 1,750 have declined, 900 have advanced and 46 are unchanged.