Sensex down 246pts; RCom slips 3.6%

The NSE Nifty is down 97 points at 4,773.

NTPC has plunged 5.2% to Rs 163. Hindalco has tumbled 4.7% to Rs 183. Reliance Infrastructure has lost 4.6% to Rs 1,174.

HDFC Bank has slipped 4.3% to Rs 1,299. ACC is down over 4% to Rs 634.

Reliance Communications has declined 3.6% to Rs 556.

BHEL and ONGC have dropped 3.3% each at Rs 1,607 and Rs 836, respectively.

Tata Steel has shed over 3% at Rs 875. Ambuja Cements has slipped 2.7% to Rs 93.

ICICI Bank has lost 2.5% at Rs 768, and TCS has dropped 2.4% to Rs 1,005.

Hindustan Unilever, SBI and DLF are the major losers.

Maruti has gained 2% to Rs 780. Mahindra and Mahindra has advanced nearly 1% to Rs 598.

Jaiprakash Associates and ITC have added 0.6% each to Rs 214 and Rs 219, respectively.

The market breadth is negative - out of 2,641 stocks traded so far, 1,883 have declined, 681 have advanced and the rest are unchanged.