Markets plunge on weakness in metals, realty

The markets opened marginally in the red and flirted on either side on the dotted line throughout the morning session. However, volatility returned to haunt the Street in the post-lunch session. The Sensex closed around the lowest point of the day, at 15,404, weaker by 491 points or 3%, and the Nifty ended at 4545, down by 147 points.

Among the Sensex losers, Hindalco shed 10% at Rs 109, DLF weakened by 9% to close at Rs 336 and Jaiprakash Associates lost 7% to end at 194.

Sterlite and ACC lost 6% each to end at Rs 722 and Rs 701 respectively.

The stocks to buck the weak trend were Bharti (stronger by 2% at Rs 299) and Maruti (higher by 1% at Rs 1,418).

The market breadth turned substantially negative at close, with 4 declining stocks behind every advancing stock. Out of 2,759 stocks traded on the BSE, there were 2,167 declining stocks as against 536 advances.