The Hindu : Business : Sensex drops 63 points on profit taking

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Wednesday, Mar 02, 2005

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Business

Sensex drops 63 points on profit taking

MUMBAI, MARCH 1. The Sensex today reacted sharply on heavy profit taking and witnessed a downward correction as the euphoria over the budget receded and the benchmark fell by 62.78 points to close at 6651.08 on the Bombay Stock Exchange even as the outlook remained positive.

Despite opening on a buoyant note with the index posting a fresh record high of 6725.92 in early deals, cautious operators and retail investors resorted to profit taking at higher levels, driving it down to a low of 6628.22, before settling at 6651.08. On Monday, several market-friendly proposals announced by the Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, in the budget boosted market sentiment and the index had shot up by nearly 144 points.

Besides pharma and fast moving consumer goods segments, which attracted moderate buying, all other sectors such as IT, banking, oil and gas, metal and capital goods suffered marked to moderate losses. Positive proposals such as rationalisation of tax structure, cut in peak customs duty, lowering of corporate tax, and focus on rural electrification were hailed by the market. Focus on infrastructure would have a positive impact on capital goods and construction companies, a broker said. — PTI

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