Global cues and index heavy-weights dragged the Sensex into the red for the third day.
The Sensex on Thursday opened with a marginal positive gap of 23 points at 17,031. Almost immediately, the index dropped into the red.
The index tried to recover but slipped further towards the end of the day and slumped to a low of 16,721 - down 311 points from the day's high. A further rise in inflation as food articles became dearer also dampened sentiments.
The Sensex finally ended off the day's low at 16,790 - down 219 points (1.2%).
The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices were underperformers and slipped around 2% each to 6,444 and 7,648, respectively.
The NSE Nifty slipped below the 5,000 mark after seven trading sessions. The index ended with a loss of 75 points, or 1.3%, at 4,989.
INDEX SHAKERS...
Sensex heavy-weights, ICICI Bank, Reliance and Larsen & Toubro were responsible for a loss of more than 150 points of the index today. ICICI Bank dragged the index down 57 points and ended at Rs 891. Reliance (RIL) tumbled to Rs 2,134 - down 2.2% as the tussle between RIL and Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL) continued in the Supreme Court.
Larsen & Toubro was weak since morning and dropped 4% to Rs 1,609, following a dissapointing Q2 performance. Jaiprakash Associates shed 7% to Rs 238 after announcing their quarterly results on Wednesday.
DLF, Tata Motors, Reliance Infrastructure, Grasim, SBI, Hindalco, Tata Steel and NTPC dropped 1-5% each. IT stocks Wipro and TCS were down aroudn 1% each.
...AND MOVERS
Infosys gained 2% at Rs 2,212.
FMCG stocks - ITC and Hindustan Unilever added 1.5% each to Rs 248 and Rs 278, respectively.
Bharti Airtel and Mahindra & Mahindra moved up around 1% each.
The market breadth was fairly negative. Out of 2,825 stocks traded 1,875 declined while 871 advanced.
VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS...
The combined value chart was topped by Jaiprakash Associates with a turnover of Rs 846.16 crore, followed by HDIL (Rs 830.95 crore), DLF (Rs 707.64 crore), Larsen & Toubro (Rs 673.37 crore) and Reliance (Rs 617.55 crore).
