Sensex ends down 180pts at 8,521, recovers 824pts

The Sensex opened with a negative gap of 101 points at 8,600, and exhibited some volatility in early trades as the index touched a high of 8,739.

Aggressive selling emerged thereafter and the index drifted lower as the day progressed. The selling pressure was so intense that the index broke the 8,000-mark and slumped to a low of 7,697 - down 1,042 points from the day's high. In the process, the index was down a whopping 63.7% (13,510 points) from its all-time peak of 21,207 touched in this January.

Renewed buying, mainly in energy and realty stocks, helped the index cut losses and stage a smart recovery. The Sensex recovered 824 points from the day's low, and finally ended with a loss of 180 points at 8,521.