Mumbai: The BSE benchmark Sensex extended losses to more than 2 per cent in afternoon trade on Wednesday, after opening higher, as foreign funds sold frontline stocks on weak sentiment after Satyam's now-abandoned deal.
Satyam shares were the biggest index losers, down 29.7 per cent at 159.35 rupees, as investors reacted negatively to a plan to pay $1.6 billion for control of a related construction and a real estate firm. Satyam abandoned the deal after its shares fell 55 percent in New York.
At 2:45 p.m., the 30-share BSE index was 2.3 per cent at 9,749.29 points.
The 50-issue NSE index was down 2.6 per cent at 2,963 points.