The 30-share index Sensex, which had suffered a heavy loss earlier this morning, recovered over 200 points from today’s lows, touching a high of 9,968.12.

Metal, realty, banking, oil & gas stocks led the declining charts.

BSE Midcap and Smallcap index fell 2.52% and 2.26% respectively.

After opened the day negatively at 9,683.41, down 486.49 points, the Sensex crashed to 9681.28 following a massive sell-off in front line stocks.

At 10:59 a.m., Sensex stood at 9,926.09, down 243.81 points, after hitting a high of 9,928.11 and a low of 9,681.28.

In contrast, the broad based Nifty lost 69.80 points at 2,995.35 after touching a high of 3,064.80 and a low of 2,918.10.

The overall breadth of the market was sharply negative as it saw 349 advancements as against 1,469 declinations.

Gainers in the 30-share index were Bharat Heavy Electricals (3.47%), ITC (0.82%), Mahindra & Mahindra (0.62%), and Larsen & Toubro (0.10%).

On the other hand, Hindalco Industries (7.58%), Tata Steel (6.56%), Bharti Airtel (5.79%), Housing Development Finance Corporation (5.66%), ICICI Bank (5.08%), and Tata Motors (4.97%) were the biggest losers in the Sensex.

For the week ended Oct. 11, 2008, the wholesale price index (WPI) Inflation fell further to 11.07% as compared to 11.44% in the week before because of moderation in the prices of essential commodities and also on account of declining crude oil prices.