Sensex ends down 853pts at 16,752

The Sensex opened with a negative gap of 721 points at 16,884. The index hit the 10% lower limit at 15,889 within a matter of minutes, and trading was suspended for an hour.

The index staged a dramatic recovery on resumption of trading, and touched a high of 17,069.

The index was unable to hold gains as a fresh round of selling saw it slide to a low of 15,332 - down almost 13% (2,273 points).

Fresh buying in the last one-hour of trades saw the Sensex recover once again and finally finish (provisional) with a loss of 853 points (4.8%) at 16,752.