Sensex drops 286pts; cement stocks crash

The Sensex is now down 286 points at 12,411.

Gujarat Ambuja has slumped over 9% to Rs 103, and ACC has crashed nearly 8% to Rs 788. Grasim has dropped 4.6% to Rs 2,026.

Wipro has plunged 5.5% to Rs 549. Ranbaxy has tumbled 4% to Rs 309, and Maruti has shed 3.7% to Rs 761.

TCS and ICICI Bank have declined 3% each to Rs 1,162 and Rs 827, respectively.

Tata Steel and Infosys have slipped around 2.5% each to Rs 408 and Rs 2,064, respectively.

Cipla has gained 1.5% at Rs 225, and Dr.Reddy's has spurted over 1% to Rs 628.

Out of 2,498 stocks traded so far, 1,981 have declined, 457 have advanced and 60 are unchanged.