Sensex down 67pts; cement stocks plunge

The Sensex opened with a negative gap of 34 points at 12,401. The index soon plunged to a low of 12,224 - down 211 points from its previous close.

The index is now down 67 points at 12,369.

Gujarat Ambuja plunged over 4% to Rs 110. ACC slumped 3% to Rs 936, and Grasim has shed nearly 2% to Rs 2,264.

ICICI Bank has declined 2.7% to Rs 642. HDFC is down over 1% to Rs 1,373.

Reliance is down 1.7% at Rs 1,090. ONGC is down nearly 1% at Rs 1,445.

Tata Steel has surged 2.4% to Rs 654, and Hindalco has gained 1.5% at Rs 247.

Tata Motors has advanced 2% to Rs 973. Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto have moved up over 1% each to Rs 881 and Rs 3,177, respectively.

NTPC has surged 1.6% to Rs 131. Dr.Reddy's has spurted over 1% to Rs 1,652.

Out of 2,498 stocks traded so far, 1,254 have advanced, 1,186 have advanced and 58 are unchanged.