Sensex down 156pts; tech stocks slide

Despite opening with a positive gap of 108 points at 14,432, the Sensex soon slipped into the negative zone on account of weakness in technology stocks. The index is now down 156 points at 14,168.

Infosys has slumped 5.5% to Rs 1,652. Satyam has plunged 4% to Rs 404. Wipro and TCS have dropped around 2.5% each to Rs 416 and Rs 817, respectively.

DLF has shed 2.5% at Rs 474. ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel have slipped over 2% each to Rs 672 and Rs 760, respectively.

Sterlite has declined 1.6% to Rs 495. SBI and Grasim are down 1.3% each at Rs 1,518 and Rs 1,993, respectively.

Maruti has rallied 2.8% to Rs 698. ITC and BHEL have moved up 1.3% each to Rs 194 and Rs 1,686, respectively.

Mahindra & Mahindra, ONGC and Hindalco are up over 1% each at Rs 570, Rs 1,048 and Rs 123, respectively.