Sensex plunges 300 pts, Nifty breaks 8450; banks drag

Moneycontrol Bureau10:45 am Rajesh Exports in News: Rajesh Exports bought Valcambi, the world's largest gold refining company, in an all-cash deal worth USD 400 million.

The company was selected after a global search by Valcambi's existing owners led by Newmont Mining Corp, the world's largest gold jewellery maker said.

The deal will help it secure raw material supplies and will add to earnings per share, the company said.

India is the world's biggest consumer of gold, with annual demand hovering around 900 tonnes per year.10:25 am Earnings Poll: Ambuja Cements' second quarter is expected to be subdued as profit after tax is seen falling 37 percent year-on-year to Rs 258 crore on poor realisation and lower revenue, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Total income from operations is likely to fall 8 percent to Rs 2,490 crore in June quarter compared to Rs 2,720.1 crore in the year-ago period due to lower sales volumes.

The company follows January-December as its financial year. Analysts expect cement volumes to inch up very marginally by 1 percent to 5.85 million tonnes from 5.79 million tonnes during the same period as Pan India demand has been very weak.

Degrowth on year-on-year basis may be due to eroding market shares in the last two years. Realisations may take a sharp knock in June quarter due to Northern and Western presence. West is the key market for Ambuja cements while Ambuja has no presence in South.10:10 am FII View on P-Notes woes: The SIT recommendation to go after P Notes to stem black money is unlikely to impact market, says Ridham Desai of Morgan Stanley.He is confident that the government will make a studied decision on the issue and rules out the possibility of the FII community panicking over P-Note issue.Desai, on the other hand, is worried that if GST Bill does not get passed during the Monsoon Session of parliament, it may hurt sentiment. But that is "short-term" glitch in the 3-5 year bull run, he says.10:00 am Market Check

The market extended losses in morning trade with the Sensex falling 318.40 points or 1.13 percent to 27793.91 and the Nifty declining 87.95 points or 1.03 percent to 8433.60.

The broader markets, too, slipped into red. The BSE Midcap index dropped 1 percent and Smallcap declined 0.8 percent. About 760 shares have advanced, 1111 shares declined, and 102 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

Bank Nifty fell 300 points.