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.
