Sensex down 656pts; Reliance, L&T drop 4%

The Sensex has slipped below the 17,000-mark, and is now down 656 points at 16,922.

The NSE Nifty is down 199 points at 5,024.

BHEL, DLF and ICICI Bank have slumped over 6% each to Rs 2,141, Rs 733 and Rs 1,025, respectively.

HDFC and SBI have tumbled around 5.5% each to Rs 2,645 and Rs 1,996, respectively.

NTPC and Bharti Airtel have plunged over 5% each to Rs 191 and Rs 784, respectively.

Reliance and Larsen & Toubro have dropped over 4% each to Rs 2,354 and Rs 3,376, respectively.

ITC and Wipro have shed 3.8% each at Rs 194 and Rs 418, respectively.

Reliance Communications, Infosys and HDFC Bank have slipped around 3.5% each at Rs 554, Rs 1,494 and Rs 1,404, respectively.

Maruti has soared 3.7% to Rs 899. Ranbaxy has gained 3% at Rs 459, and Cipla has added 2.5% to Rs 212.

Hindustan Unilever has rallied 2.3% to Rs 232.