Sensex at lower levels; RCom, ICICI Bank drop 4%

The Sensex continues to languish at lower levels and is now down 180 points at 8,862. Earlier in the day, the index opened 99 points lower at 8,944, and then slipped to a low of 8,823.

ICICI Bank and Reliance Communications (RCom) have slumped nearly 4% each to Rs 348 and Rs 157, respectively.

Sterlite, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Power have plunged nearly 3.5% each to Rs 248, Rs 281 and Rs 728, respectively.

HDFC, Reliance, Infosys and Wipro have slipped around 3% each to Rs 1,348, Rs 1,254, Rs 1,172 and Rs 214, respectively.

TCS, Tata Steel and Reliance Infrastructure have declined around 2.5% each to Rs 477, Rs 168 and Rs 496, respectively.

Larsen & Toubro, Jaiprakash Associates and DLF are down over 2% each.

The market breadth is very negative - out of 2,162 stocks traded so far, 1,417 have declined, 642 have advanced and the rest are unchanged.