Mumbai, Mar 31 : Taking cues from the global markets, the 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Monday opened with a negative gap of 144 points and shed 727 points before closing at 15,644.

Out of 2,699 stocks traded at the exchange, 1,364 advanced, 1,291 declined and 44 remained unchanged.

HDFC plunged nearly nine per cent, ICICI Bank fell down nearly eight per cent, HDFC Bank plunged nearly six per cent and SBI was down nearly five per cent.

TCS dropped nearly seven per cent, Wipro and Infosys plummeted over six per cent each, while Satyam declined 3.5 per cent.

DLF fell seven per cent, ONGC plunged 6.7 per cent, and Reliance Energy and Hindalco slipped over six per cent each.

Jaiprakash Associates plunged 5.7 per cent and Hindustan Unilever dropped 5.5 per cent.

Reliance Communications and Grasim plunged nearly five per cent each, while Larsen & Toubro was down nearly four per cent.

NTPC, Reliance, Tata Motors and Tata Steel plummeted around 3.5 per cent. (ANI)