Sensex tumbles 71 pts

The market has succumbed to further losses after a weak opening, as across-the-board selling pressure in current trades, barring few select counters, has seen the index plunge deep into the red to touch a low of 6,206.

The Sensex is now down 71 points at 6,213, while the Nifty has declined 24 points to 1,917.

ONGC has scaled down 1.90% (Rs 16) to Rs 820. While HLL has declined 1.88% (Rs 3) to Rs 141, ITC is down 1.34% (Rs 19) at Rs 1,432. Reliance is down a per cent (Rs 5) at Rs 538.

HDFC Bank has dropped 2.17% (Rs 12) to Rs 525, and ICICI Bank is down 1.63% (Rs 6) at Rs 369. SBI has lost 1.80% (Rs 11) to Rs 593.

Satyam at Rs 410 (down Rs 9 or 2%) and Wipro at Rs 635 (down Rs 4) are largely trading at their earlier lows. Infosys, however, after trading lower in the last few sessions, is up with a steady gain of Rs 6 at Rs 1,911.

Grasim has tumbled 3.47% (Rs 42) to Rs 1,171. Gujarat Ambuja has slipped 1.38% (Rs 6) to Rs 421, while ACC is down a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 362.

Hero Honda has plunged 2% (Rs 11) to Rs 509, and Bajaj has slipped a per cent (Rs 10) to Rs 1,081. While Maruti is down a per cent (Rs 3) at Rs 412, Tata Motors is trading lower by 1.40% (Rs 6) at Rs 423.

Ranbaxy has tumbled 2.68% (Rs 25) to Rs 893, while Dr. Reddy's has shed 1.79% (Rs 12) to Rs 638. Cipla, after a weak opening, has jumped 2.60% (Rs 7) to Rs 264.

Hindalco at Rs 1,222 (down Rs 17 or 1.35%), HDFC at Rs 733 (down Rs 16 or 2.12%), HPCL at Rs 310 (down Rs 8 or 2.55%) and Tata Power at Rs 341 (down Rs 9 or 2.67%) have further edged lower. Zee, however, is up 1.39% (Rs 2) at Rs 131.