The Hindu : Business : Sensex drops 36 points

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 21, 2005

Business

Business

Sensex drops 36 points

MUMBAI: The Sensex took a big downswing of 297 points after staging a sharp pull-back rally during early trade on Thursday and ended 36 points down at 7935.12 as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) pressed the sell button sending shudders down investors' spine.

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark 30-share index (Sensex) spiralled down from the early high of 8134.83 to the intra-day low of 7838.02 as the FIIs' Wednesday's sales figure made investors tremble with fear of sustained withdrawals despite impressive second quarter earnings by major corporates.

Notwithstanding the intervention by domestic funds, which reportedly made a hefty net purchases of over Rs. 500 crore, the Sensex ended the day at 7935.12 against Wednesday's close of 7971.06, a net fall of 35.94 points.

Crediting early bounce back to better-than-expected second quarter results announced by IT major Satyam Computer, brokers said the market later crumbled under the heavy onslaught of selling by hedge funds, which were seen taking profits in frontline and mid-cap and small-cap counters.

The FIIs were believed to be sellers to the tune of Rs. 3,100 crore in the Futures segment on October 19, brokers said.

Selling was so intense that purchases by local funds and firm trend on Wall Street on Wednesday and in Asian markets failed to provide any respite to the market.

— PTI

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