Tata Steel presently trades at Rs 233.55, down by 13.20 points or 5.35% from its previous closing of Rs 246.75 on the BSE. The stock opened at Rs 245, and touched a high of Rs 260 with a low of Rs 230.25. So far, 4,318,429 shares were traded on the BSE.

The BSE stock touched a 52-week high of Rs 940 and a 52-week low of Rs 146.35.

Tata Steel, major steel producer has registered a decline in sales by 14%, to 1.07 million tonnes for the quarter ended December 2008 comapred to the year-ago period despite a growth of 27% sales of long products, which is mostly demanded by the construction industry.

The company saw an increase in hot metal production by 23%, to 1.70 million tonnes and crude steel production by 17%, to 1.50 million tonnes during the period while the saleable steel production remained unchanged at 1.24 million tonnes.