The Sensex opened with a marginal gain of four points at 8,966, and moved up to a high of 9,011 in early deals.
Profit-taking commenced soon after, and it was a downward spiral there after... The index plunged to a low of 8,803 towards the closing bell - an intra-day swing of 208 points. The Sensex finally closed with a loss of 138 points (1.5%) at 8,823.
The Nifty lost 37 points to close at 2,661.
Infosys dropped 2% (Rs 56) to Rs 2,787. While Wipro declined 2% (Rs 9) to Rs 422, Satyam slipped 1.3% (Rs 8) to Rs 651. TCS was down Rs 20 at Rs 1,520.
SBI declined 2% (Rs 19) to Rs 892. ONGC was down Rs 11 at Rs 1,024. ITC dropped 2.5% (Rs 3) to Rs 134.
HLL was firm right through the session, and closed with a gain of Rs 3 at Rs 188. Reliance was up a notch at Rs 839.
ACC slipped 2.7% (Rs 14) to Rs 524. Grasim declined 1.9% (Rs 26) to Rs 1,400. Gujarat Ambuja was down a rupee at Rs 82.
Hero Honda was down 3% (Rs 25) at Rs 797, and Tata Motors dropped Rs 12 to Rs 555. While Bajaj was up Rs 7 at Rs 1,990, Maruti was up Rs 2 at Rs 619.
Tata Power dropped over 3% (Rs 13) to Rs 427. HDFC declined 2.9% (Rs 33) to Rs 1,112. Bharti also slipped 2.9% (Rs 10) to Rs 348. Reliance Energy, BHEL, L&T, Cipla, Dr. Reddy's, Ranbaxy, Hindalco and Tata Steel also declined.
