Sensex drops 71pts, Satyam zooms 5%

The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 18 points at 9,260, and touched a high of 9,298 in morning deals. After moving in a narrow range in noon deals, selling pressure in late noon deals saw the index plunge to a low of 9,117 - an intra-day swing of 181 points. The Sensex finally closed with a loss of 71 points at 9,170.

SBI plunged 3.4% (Rs 31) to Rs 897. Reliance dropped 1.8% (Rs 15) to Rs 845.

Hero Honda declined over 2% (Rs 19) to Rs 838. Bajaj slipped 1.8% (Rs 39) to Rs 2,080. While Maruti was down Rs 12 at Rs 647, Tata Motors was down Rs 5 at Rs 612.

ACC dropped 2% (Rs 12) to Rs 536. While Grasim was down Rs 13 at Rs 1,366, Gujarat Ambuja slipped to Rs 80.

Ranbaxy slumped 3% (Rs 12) to Rs 387. Dr. Reddy's was down 2% (Rs 19) at Rs 930.

Tata Steel declined 2.6% (Rs 10) to Rs 368. BHEL, Reliance Energy and Bharti Tele also declined.

Satyam was firm right through the session, and closed with a gain of over 5% (Rs 36) at Rs 719. Infosys was up 1% (Rs 33) at Rs 2,919. TCS was up Rs 5 at Rs 1,693.

L&T added Rs 9 to Rs 1,735. Hindalco, Cipla, HDFC and Tata Power also finished with gains.