Sensex sheds 77 points at close

After stocks tumbled in early noon deals, the index slipped deep into the red towards the closing hours to touch an intra-day low of 5,531 on all-round selling pressure. It finally closed at 5,539 - down 77 points. The Nifty lost 28 points to close at 1,726.

HLL declined 2.19% (Rs 3) to Rs 120. While ITC ended a tad lower at Rs 1,163, Reliance closed down a per cent (Rs 3) at Rs 500.

Infosys slumped 2% (Rs 34) to Rs 1,630. While Satyam shed 2.35% (Rs 9) to Rs 372, Wipro dropped 2% (Rs 12) to Rs 593.

ONGC crashed 3% (Rs 23) to Rs 737. HPCL dropped 4.25% (Rs 14) to Rs 319.

Zee slipped 2.68% (Rs 4) to Rs 153. While ICICI Bank shed 2.34% (Rs 7) to Rs 288, SBI shrinked 2% (Rs 10) to Rs 483.

ACC slipped nearly 2% (Rs 5) to Rs 272. Grasim and Gujarat Ambuja were down a per cent each at Rs 1,140 (down Rs 11) and Rs 343 (down Rs 3),

respectively.

Hero Honda lost 2.39% (Rs 11) to Rs 444. While Bajaj dipped 1.48% (Rs 15) to Rs 975, Maruti was down 1.72% (Rs 6) at Rs 363. Tata Motors also ended lower at Rs 410 - down Rs 2.

BHEL was down 1.57% (Rs 9) at Rs 585. While Reliance Energy tumbled 1.19% (Rs 8) to Rs 639, Tata Power closed down a tad at Rs 311.

Ranbaxy dipped 1.37% (Rs 15) to Rs 1,107. Dr. Reddy's and Cipla closed down a per cent each at Rs 750 and Rs 281, respectively.

MTNL, however, emerged as a major gainer amongst the index stocks, and notched up 3.26% gains (Rs 4) to Rs 127.