Sensex down 582pts; all index stocks down

The Sensex opened with a significant negative gap of 416 points at 18,247, and soon tumbled below the 18,000-mark to a low of 17,936.

The index is now down 582 points at 18,081.

The NSE Nifty is down 181 points at 5,303.

Bharti Airtel has slumped 5.5% to Rs 884. Infosys has plunged over 5% to Rs 1,528.

DLF and TCS have tumbled around 4.5% each to Rs 850 and Rs 908, respectively.

Satyam, Wipro, HDFC Bank and Hindalco have dropped over 4% each to Rs 419, Rs 435, Rs 2,940 and Rs 174, respectively.

ONGC has shed 3.8% at Rs 1,033.

All index stocks are in negative zone with losses in excess of 2% each.