The Sensex opened with a negative gap of 170 points at 9,160, and then touched a low of 9,034. The index has recovered partially and is now down 221 points at 9,108.
Tata Steel has tumbled 5% to Rs 198. Bharti Airtel has slumped 4.5% to Rs 618.
Sterlite, Reliance Communications and HDFC have plunged 4% each to Rs 260, Rs 178 and Rs 1,486, respectively.
Mahindra & Mahindra and ICICI Bank and have dropped nearly 4% each to Rs 309 and Rs 397, respectively.
Maruti, Hindalco and SBI have slipped over 3% each to Rs 560, Rs 49 and Rs 1,112, respectively.
Grasim, HDFC Bank and Reliance have declined 2.7% each to Rs 1,211, Rs 915 and Rs 1,197, respectively. Jaiprakash Associates has shed 2.5% at Rs 67.
Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, DLF and Larsen & Toubro are down 2% each at Rs 147, Rs 1,097, Rs 191 and Rs 714, respectively.
ITC and TCS are the sole gainers among the index stocks.
The market breadth is fairly negative - out of 2,085 stocks traded so far, 1,205 have declined, 804 have advanced and the rest are unchanged.
