Sensex down 78pts; Maruti, HDFC weak

The Sensex is now down 78 points at 15,897.

The NSE Nifty is up 13 points at 4,785.

Larsen & Toubro has slumped 10.3% to Rs 2,682. BHEL has tumbled 5.4% to Rs 1,917, and Reliance Energy has plunged 4.7% to Rs 1,210.

Maruti has slipped 4.3% to Rs 893, and HDFC has shed 2.7% at Rs 2,559.

Grasim, Satyam and Hindustan Unilever have slipped 1.7% each to Rs 2,735, Rs 417 and Rs 223, respectively.

Wipro and ICICI Bank have declined around 1.5% each to Rs 408 and Rs 880, respectively.

Bharti Airtel has soared over 4% to Rs 783. ACC has surged 3.5% to Rs 760.

DLF and Tata Steel have rallied over 3% each to Rs 679 and Rs 797, respectively.

HDFC Bank, SBI and Cipla have advanced 2.7% each to Rs 1,322, Rs 1,890 and Rs 205, respectively.

Bajaj Auto has gained 2.5% at Rs 1,935. ONGC and Mahindra & Mahindra have moved up over 1.5% each to Rs 972 and Rs 676, respectively.

Out of 2,663 stocks traded so far, 2,066 have declined, 554 have advanced and 43 are unchanged.