Sensex down 181pts; breadth very -ve

The Sensex opened 99 points lower at 8,944, and then slipped deeper into red to a low of 8,823. The index is now down 181 points at 8,862.

Reliance Communications, DLF and HDFC have slumped around 4% each to Rs 156, Rs 150 and Rs 1,340, respectively.

ICICI Bank and Sterlite have plunged 3.3% each to Rs 349 and Rs 248, respectively.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance and Wipro have dropped around 3% each to Rs 281, Rs 1,255 and Rs 214, respectively.

Tata Steel has shed 2.5% at Rs 168. Larsen & Toubro and Reliance Infrastructure have slipped 2.3% each to Rs 626 and Rs 497, respectively.

Infosys, Jaiprakash Associates, ONGC, TCS, Grasim, Tata Power and BHEL are down around 2% each.

The market breadth is very negative - out of 1,854 stocks traded so far, 1,255 have declined, 516 have advanced and the rest are unchanged.