After opening with a loss of 154.01 points at 14,895.85, the benchmark index Sensex continued to trade in the pessimistic zone because of heavy profit booking witnessed in realty, power and metal stocks, while healthcare and IT stocks went up.

At 10.59 am, the 30-share index Sensex stood at 14.903.13, down 146.73 points. It also hit a high of 14,923.33 and a low of 14,766.01.

On the other hand, the broad based Nifty lost 57.50 points at 4,446.50, after touching a high of 4,514.60 and a low of 4,419.45.

The overall breadth of the market breadth was downbeat as it saw 921 progressions as against 1,044 declinations.

The major gainers’ in the 30-share index included Grasim Industries, which surged 1.03%, ICICI Bank zoomed 0.74%, Infosys Technologies gained 0.60% and Ranbaxy Laboratories climbed 0.23%.

The losers’ list included Sterlite Industries (India), which lost 4.01%, DLF declined 2.89%, Reliance Energy slipped 2.83%, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation fell 2.38%, NTPC dropped 2.20% and Housing Development Finance Corporation declined 2.17%.