Sensex sheds 65 pts, selling continues

The market continues to witness selling pressure in the afternoon trades. Barring select heavyweight and pharma counters, sharp correction across-the-board has seen the index slip to a low of 6,014.

The Sensex is now down 65 points at 6,118. The Nifty has lost 12 points to 1,913.

Heavyweight, tech and banking stocks continue to witness selling pressure.

ITC continues to reel under selling pressure after recording strong gains on Thursday. The counter, however, has dropped 2.14% (Rs 30) to Rs 1,349.

Wipro has tumbled 3.32% (Rs 22) to Rs 652, and Infosys at Rs 1,929 (down Rs 32 or 1.64%) also is trading at lower levels. Satyam, however, is up 2.28% (Rs 8) at Rs 368.

SBI has lost 1.55% (Rs 9) to Rs 567. While HDFC Bank has shed 4% (Rs 21) to Rs 489, ICICI Bank is down 1.85% (Rs 6) at Rs 340.

ACC (up Rs 2 to Rs 344) is holding on to its gains. Other cement majors are still displaying weak trends.

HDFC has crashed 4.77% (Rs 36) to Rs 727. While L&T has slumped 2.39% (Rs 23) to Rs 928, Tata Power has plunged 3.44% (Rs 12) to Rs 348 on lower-than-expected quarterly results. Bharti (down Rs 3 to Rs 198) has slipped from higher levels, after early gains.

Hero Honda is still trading lower by 2.42% (Rs 13) at Rs 524. While Tata Motors is down Rs 4 at Rs 468, Bajaj also is trading at weaker levels. Maruti, however, continues to exhibit gains, and has moved up 3.59% (Rs 14) to Rs 409.

While HLL has inched up by 1.62% (Rs 2) to Rs 144, Reliance is trading off-highs at Rs 513 - up Rs 2.

Dr. Reddy's has gained 1.24% (Rs 9) to Rs 730, and Cipla is up 1.55% (Rs 4) at Rs 275. Ranbaxy, however, is down a per cent (Rs 8) at Rs 975.