Stock markets slide; Sensex down 9.5 per cent; Nifty down 11 per cent

The markets have slipped again and Sensex is down 9.5 per cent and Nifty is down 11 per cent. Europe has opened in deep red. It has opened with a sharp cut, the French benchmark index CAC is down 6.8 per cent, Germany's DAX is down 5 per cent, FTSE down 3 per cent.  The finance ministry has ruled out foul play in the stock market. The NSE Advance : Decline ratio at 1:40.

At 2.18 (IST) this afternoon, the Sensex was down 1,667.82 points or 9.47 per cent at 15937.53, while the Nifty was lower by 489.70 points or 9.40 per cent at 4719.10.

Only 203 shares advanced, while  over 10 times as many - 2741 shares declined,.

Tata Steel, Satyam, PNB, Maruti, Cipla and HUL were the top losers among the index counters. However, Bharti Airtel, GAIL, Infosys, Suzlon, Grasim were providing some support at the lower levels.

BSE Smallcap index was down over 12 per cent. Major losers in the smallcap space were Adlabs Films down over 27 per cent, IFCI down over 24 per cent, Bajaj Hindustan down 23 per cent, Peninsula Land down 23 per cent, Core Projects down over 20 per cent.

NSE top losers JaiprakashHydro trading at 60.15 down 30.34 per cent, Ispat Industries at 31.20 down 28.77 per cent, Chennai Petro at 210.50 down 27.77 per cent, Triveni Engg at 83.50 down 26.91 per cent, Sterlite Techno at 170.00 down 25.96 per cent and CESC at 380.10 down 25.74 per cent.