Sensex ends down 286pts

The Sensex has ended (provisional) at 17,683, down 286 points. The NSE Nifty has shut shop (provisional) at 5,292, down 82 points.
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(Updated at 1446hrs)

Owing to selling in the metal and oil&gas stocks, the markets have plunged lower and is now at its day's low. The Sensex is now at 17,752, down 217 points. The NSE Nifty is 67 points lower at 5,305.

Among the Sensex-30 stocks, Hindalco Industries and Bharti Airtel have slipped 3% each to Rs 178 and Rs 312, respectively.

HDFC, Jaiprakash Associates and Tata Motors are down 2% each at Rs 2,737, Rs 148 and Rs 779, respectively.

ICICI Bank, ONGC, Reliance Industries and Reliance Communications have dropped 1.5% each.

Infosys, DLF, TCS and Wipro are the only marginal gainers, up 0.5% each on the BSE.

The market breadth is negative, out of 2,900 shares traded, 1,542 have declined and 1,264 have advanced so far on the BSE.

Among the sectoral gainers, metal and oil & gas index have slipped 1.5% each on the BSE.

On the other hand realty and IT index have gained around 1% each.