Indian stocks Market :BSE Sensex: Nifty

The Indian stocks continue to be under tremendous selling pressure in late morning trade, as investors continue to flee risky assets like equities and commodities in the wake of the S&P's decision to downgrade US' "AAA" rating by one notch.

All the sectoral indices were in the red and the benchmarks slipped to crucial support levels."The S&P on Friday downgraded the long-term debt rating of the US from AAA to AA+ and continued with its negative outlook. This could lead to some immediate turbulence in financial markets, however, investors are likely to focus on 'relative' ratings in their investment decisions.

The BSE Sensex is down more than 450 points while the NSE Nifty remains below the 5,100 mark.

The BSE Sensex was trading at 16,848, down 457 points or 2.65% over the last close. It had touched the day's high at 16,907 and day's low at 16,759 with the opening of Rs. 16,907.

The NSE Nifty on the other hand was quoting 5,075, down 135 points or 2.61% after touching a high of 5,096 and a low of 5,054.

The IT index on the BSE is down more than 5% amid concerns that a weakening economic landscape in the US and Europe will hit their earnings, which are closely  linked to these markets.

The ADAG pack is also being pummeled out of shape, led by heavy losses in Reliance Power, RCOM, Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance  Capital after the BSE removed RCOM and Reliance Infra from the Sensex effective today.