Equity Alert: Mkt down 3%; Nifty below 4500; power, realty shares down

[K.Karthik Raja]

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Equity Alert: Mkt down 3%; Nifty below 4500; power, realty shares
down
MUMBAI--10:08AM--Key share indices were down 3% tracking the fall
in
overseas markets, with power and real estate shares among the worst
hit, dealers
said.
Sensex was at 15117.34, down 454.84 points or 2.9%. Nifty was
below the
4500-mark at 4491.15, down 136.65 points or 3%, after having stopped
around
30 points short of its January low.
Unitech and Bharti Airtel were down around 6% each, while Power
Grid Corp
and Tata Power fell around 4% each.
High crude oil prices weighed on oil retailers' shares, causing
Hindustan
Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp to fall 6% and 5%,
respectively.
BPCL was the worst hit on Nifty.
However, Cairn India benefited from the surge in crude prices. The
stock,
up 3%, was the top Nifty gainer.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Sterlite Industries, up 1% and
0.2%,
respectively, were the other gainers on Nifty.