Sensex drops 70pts; breadth turns negative

The Sensex has tumbled to touch a low of 10,059 -  down 125 points from the high. The index is now down 54 points at 10,070.

Grasim has slipped 2.8% to Rs 1,650. HLL has slumped 2.3% to Rs 233.

HDFC has declines 1.8% to Rs 1,315. ITC is down 1.7% at Rs 164.

Dr.Reddy's, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Hindalco and Ranbaxy are also in declining mode.

However, Bajaj Auto, Maruti, Tata Steel, Satyam and Bharti Tele have gained over 1% each at Rs 2,405, Rs 774, Rs 396, Rs 750 and Rs 366, respectively.

The market breadth has turned extremely negative - out of 2,257 stocks traded so far, 1,407 have declined, 790 have advanced and the rest are unchanged.

Saint Gobain has surged 8.6% to Rs 40. Mangalam Cement, Kothari Products, Colour Chips, Jain Irrigation, Voltas, MphasiS BFL, Bombay Dyeing, Syngenta and RCF are holding gains.

Williamson Tea dropped 7.8% to Rs 372. McLeod Russel, Harrison Malyalam, Jagatji Inds, National Peroxide, Hexaware, Lupin, Ingersoll, Dabur, Bank of India, Kochi Refineries, Indain Hotels and Chennai Petro are on slippery ground.