The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 96 points at 12,793, and soon rallied to a high of 12,902 - up 205 points from the previous close.

Profit taking at higher levels coupled with heavy selling in cement stocks saw the index slip into the negative zone and tumble to a low of 12,390 - an intra-day fall of 512 points.

However, renewed buying interest at lower levels saw the index recover some losses and finally settle at 12,580 - down 117 points. 

World Markets
Index	Country	Value	Net Chg	% Chg
Sensex	India	12697	282	2.3
Hang Seng	Hong Kong	18919	(140)	(0.7)
Nikkei	Japan	16765	(80)	(0.5)
Shanghai	China	2897	56	2.0
Straits Times	Singapore	3059	23	0.7
FTSE	Britan	6140*	2	0.0
CAC 40	France	5449*	12	0.2
DAX	Germany	6608*	13	0.2
* Markets are open now, last updated at 1630 Hrs

The Mid-cap index dropped 2% to 5114, and the Small-cap index shed 2.7% at 6088.

The Bankex and Metal index tumbled over 2.5% each to 6191 and 7776, respectively. The FMCG index was down 2% at 1664.

The market breadth was extremely negative - out of 2,579 stocks traded, 1,959 declined, 579 advanced and 41 were unchanged today.

Index movers & shakers

Gujarat Ambuja crashed 8.5% to Rs 104, and ACC tumbled 4.7% to Rs 814.

Wipro and Ranbaxy plunged around 4% each to Rs 557 and Rs 310, respectively. ICICI Bank dropped 3% to Rs 827.

SBI shed 2.7% to Rs 965. Hindalco and ITC slipped 2.5% each to Rs 127 and Rs 158, respectively.

HDFC Bank and HLL declined over 2% each to Rs 916 and Rs 168, respectively.

Maruti and Tata Steel dropped around 1.5% each to Rs 777 and Rs 413, respectively. Infosys and Grasim were down 1% each at Rs 2,092 and Rs 2,104, respectively.

Cipla surged 5% to Rs 233. Reliance Communications rallied 2.5% to Rs 411.

Dr.Reddy's, Tata Motors and Larsen & Toubro advanced around 2% each to Rs 634, Rs 741 and Rs 1,454, respectively.

HDFC moved up 1.7% to Rs 1,527.