A fresh wave of selling saw the Sensex drop a high of 14,726 to a low of 14,504 - down 222 points - in a spate of 30-odd minutes. The index is now down 92 points at 14,565.
The NSE Nifty is down 31 points at 4,383.
HDFC has shed 2.5% at Rs 2,345, and TCS has slipped 2.3% to Rs 820.
BHEL and Reliance have dropped 2% each to Rs 1,722 and Rs 2,253, respectively.
Sterlite has shed 1.7% at Rs 622. Mahindra & Mahindra, DLF and Hindustan Unilever are down around 1.5% each at Rs 516, Rs 513 and Rs 232, respectively.
Infosys, Maruti and Satyam have advanced over 1% each to Rs 1,661, Rs 567 and Rs 396, respectively.
ACC and Tata Power are also up over 1% each at Rs 583 and Rs 1,128, respectively.
The market breadth is extremely positive - out of 2,383 stocks traded so far, 1,762 have advanced, 566 have declined and 55 are unchanged.
