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Asian fall triggers Sensex dive; 50 points down, under 3000

Fall in share prices in the Asian markets further aggravated the downtrend that has been prevailing on the Bombay Stock Exchange with the BSE Sensex closing below the 3000 mark today, registering a loss of 50 points due to hectic selling spree by foreign funds and speculators at prime counters.

The stock market was already in doldrums due various reasons including political uncertainty over the Cauvery river water sharing controversy, fall in the rupee value against US greenback and the general slowdown in the economy.

According to a report, most Asian stock markets slipped further on lingering fears that the ever-weakening Japanese currency, which fell to an eight-year low, may force China to devalue its yuan.

Reflecting the bearish phase, the BSE Sensitive Index opened at 3002.82 points, touched the day's high of 3008.92 points, fell below the psychological barrier of 3000 to touch the day's low of 2965.58 and later ended at 2970.64 points, showing a net loss of 50.07 points against the previous close of 3020.71 points.

Brokers at the BSE also attributed the fall in the share prices to the squaring up by operators in view of end of weekly settlement on the National Stock Exchange.

The foreign institutional investors sold heavily at the select counters like MTNL, Colgate, ACC and some others. The domestic institutional investors made some purchases in the select scrips, however, it could not arrest the downtrend, they said.

Assistant Director at Jardine Fleming AMC Vasudeo Joshi attributed the downtrend to the weak Asian markets. Any fund manager naturally have to rethink about his investment in Indian markets, he added.

In the forex market, the Indian rupee also came under pressure on heavy dollar-buying spree and lost nearly 24 paise to clsoe at Rs 42.89/91 against the American greenback.

Meanwhile, the broad-based BSE-100 index drifted lower by 20.26 points to 1330.79 points against the previous close of 1351.05 points.

The BSE-200 and Dollex indices closed lower by 4.42 and 1.78 points to 309.18 and 120.52 points against the previous close of 313.60 and 122.30 points respectively.

Among the issues, ACC slipped by Rs 22.50 to Rs 1162, Bajaj Auto was down by Rs 4.50 to Rs 613.50, Hindalco by Rs 13.75 to Rs 548.50, Hindustan Lever by Rs 3.25 to Rs 1622.75, ITC by Rs 7.50 to Rs 573.50, L&T by Rs 4.10 to Rs 182.80, Mahindra and Mahindra by Rs 1.10 to Rs 138.50, Reliance by Rs 2.80 to Rs 124.20, State Bank declined by Rs 3.70 to Rs 195, Tisco by Rs 2.50 to Rs 96.50 and Telco by Rs 2.20 to Rs 132.

Total turnover on the BOLT system reported during the day was Rs 7.76 billion.

Tobacco giant ITC registered highest business volume of Rs 1.53 billion, followed by Satyam Computers Rs 1.16 billion, Reliance Rs 605.1 million, Zee Telefilms Rs 583 million, Pentafour Software Rs 450.1 million, State Bank of India Rs 311.6 million, Tata Tea Rs 223.1 million, Dr Reddy's Rs 206.8 million, Dr Reddy's Rs 206.8 million, Telco Rs 168.2 million, Infosys Tech Rs 148.6 million, ACC Rs 143 million, BHEL Rs 142 million, MTNL Rs 134.8 million, Hindustan Lever Rs 128.4 million and L&T Rs 92 million.

UNI