The Hindu : Sensex drops 95 points

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 07, 2004

Business

Business

Sensex drops 95 points

MUMBAI JAN. 6. Stocks suffered a sharp setback after an initial rally and the Sensex fluctuated wildly in a range of over 204 points before ending the session 95 points lower on the Bombay Stock Exchange today on heavy sell-off by operators and domestic financial institutions.

The BSE benchmark 30-share index that had been driven past 6100-mark to the intra-high at 6121.20 at early stages by hectic buying support, later came crashing down like a pack of cards to the day's low of 5916.33 as bulls resorted to heavy unloading coupled with profit-booking by local funds led by Unit Trust of India. The Sensex then ended at 5943.64 against yesterday's close of 6039, netting a sharp fall of 95.36 points or 1.58 per cent. The broad-based BSE-100 index also dived by 63.97 points to 3187.46.

The sharp downturn was seen as a necessary correction to the overheated market with bulls and foreign institutional investors holding abnormally large positions. Though the FIIs did not seem to be major sellers, bulls and domestic mutual funds reportedly sold off sizable chunk of holdings in a bid to book profits at higher levels. Shares of software companies, which are likely to announce third quarter results shortly, bore the brunt of selling. Infosys Technologies, Satyam Computer, Tisco, ACC, Grasim, ONGC, RIL, L&T and a few others recorded hefty losses.

However, PSU stocks such as BHEL, BPCL and RCF showed marked gains on buying support.In the specified list, 167 including 24 index-based counters registered sharp to moderate falls while 30 others closed with gains. . — PTI

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