Sensex drops 385pts; ONGC slips 7%

After opening with a 31-point negative gap, the Sensex drifted lower as the day progressed. All-round selling in the market saw the index plunge to a low of 10,263. The Sensex finally settled with a loss of 385 points at 10,293.

The BSE Auto index slipped 4.4% to 4342. The Metal and Oil & Gas indices were down nearly 4% each at 7989 and 5061, respectively. The Bankex, Teck and FMCG indices dropped around 3% each to 4145, 2512 and 1907, respectively.

The market breadth was extremely negative - out of 2,452 stocks traded, 1,709 declined, 682 advanced and 61 were unchanged today.

INDEX MOVERS & SHAKERS

Reliance Communications plunged nearly 8% to Rs 248. ONGC slumped over 7% to Rs 1,028.

Dr.Reddy's and Tata Motors dropped nearly 6% each to Rs 1,228 and Rs 697, respectively.

HDFC, Reliance Energy, Satyam, HLL and Maruti shed over 5% each to Rs 1,082, Rs 422, Rs 683, Rs 230 and Rs 754, respectively.

Reliance slipped over 3% to Rs 1,032, and Infosys was down 2.8% at Rs 1,605.

Bajaj Auto, Hindalco, Ranbaxy, SBI, BHEL, NTPC, Cipla, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank and Larsen & Toubro declined 3-5% each.

VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS

Reliance topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 170 crore followed by India Cements (Rs 124 crore), Satyam (Rs 87 crore), Infosys (Rs 76 crore) and Tata Steel (Rs 74.32 crore).

India Cements led the volume chart with trades of around 67 lakh shares followed by Aftek (47.85 lakh), Polaris (31.78 lakh), Reliance Communications (24.25 lakh) and Gujarat Ambuja (22 lakh).