Sensex down 81pts at 10,001

The Sensex is now down 81 points at 10,001.

Cipla continues to hold fort with a gain of 7.4% at Rs 550. Ranbaxy is up 1.5% at Rs 413.

Tata Steel has slipped over 3% to Rs 396. Larsen & Toubro has dropped nearly 3% to Rs 2,209.

Wipro, HDFC Bank and Hindalco have declined over 2% each to Rs 508, Rs 754 and Rs 164, respectively.

HDFC at Rs 1,319 and ITC at Rs 158 are down 2% each.

Dr.Reddy's, HLL, Bharti, TCS, Satyam, Gujarat Ambuja and ICICI Bank are also trading in the negative zones.

The market breadth is slightly negative. Out of 2,362 stocks traded so far, 1,319 have declined, 977 have advanced and 66 are unchanged.

FDC has surged 4.5% to Rs 52. Cummins, HMT, IOC, Cadila, Corporation Bank, Escorts, Chennai Petro, Ballarpur Industries, Cadila Healthcare, JB Chemicals and IBP are up 2-4% each.

KEC International slumped 8% to Rs 55. Gati, Sesa Goa, Gujarat Alkalies, Jindal Photo, Bajaj Hindustan, United Phosphorous, Kotak Bank, Sterling Biotech, UTI Bank and BPCL are also in declining mode.