Sensex off day's low; breadth fairly -ve

The Sensex opened with a negative gap of 170 points at 9,160, and then touched a low of 9,034. The index is now down 249 points at 9,081.

Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank have slumped 4.7% each to Rs 617 and Rs 394, respectively.

HDFC and Reliance Communications have plunged 4.5% each to Rs 1,477 and Rs 177, respectively.

Sterlite and Tata Steel have shed 3.6% each at Rs 261 and Rs 1,199, respectively.

HDFC Bank, Maruti, Jaiprakash Associates and SBI have dropped 3.3% each to Rs 908, Rs 559, Rs 67 and Rs 1,111, respectively.

Hindalco, Mahindra & Mahindra and DLF have slipped nearly 3% each to Rs 49, Rs 300 and Rs 190, respectively.

BHEL, Grasim and Reliance have declined 2.8% each to Rs 1,374, Rs 1,211 and Rs 1,197, respectively.

ONGC and Reliance Infrastructure are down 2.5% each at Rs 654 and Rs 522, respectively.

The market breadth is fairly negative - out of 1,908 stocks traded so far, 1,127 have declined, 712 have advanced and the rest are unchanged.