The Hindu : Further steep fall in Sensex

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 22, 2004

Business

Business

Further steep fall in Sensex

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI, JAN. 21. Stock prices tumbled today on selling pressure across the sectors and the Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share sensitive index closed the day with a massive loss of 164 points, or 2.77 per cent at 5758.19.

The sensitive index moved in a range of 234 points in intra-day. In a highly volatile trading the Sensex opened steady in the morning and slipped into the red immediately. After losing ground steadily, selling pressure gathered momentum and the market witnessed a free fall in the last hour of trading.

Even though the quarterly performance of corporates has been encouraging, the market sentiment was bogged down by the concerns over the slowdown in the flow of foreign funds in to the markets. Till January 19, for the month, the FIIs have invested a net of Rs. 1,699.10 crores against Rs. 6,161 crores in December 2003.

The selling by the FIIs sent shock waves and panic gripped the market as the domestic investors as well as operators rushed to sell. The breadth of the market was extremely negative with 2,159 issues traded on the BSE, 1851 declined outnumbering 250 gainers while 58 issues remained unchanged.

PTI reports:

Sensing trouble ahead with the principal driving force foreign institutional investors beginning to pull out from the market, operators and retail investors resorted to unwinding of positions built up in the recent bull run.

The market has become unpredictable and volatility is the order of the day with literally no purchases from FIIs despite lower price levels.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Business