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Sensex plummets 235 points, then bounces back to end just 1.16 points lower

Reflecting the trend, the BSE Sensitive index opened on a firm note at 3455.57, firmed up further to touch the day's high of 3492.48 points and fell sharply below the psychological barrier of 3300 to touch the day's low of 3256.51 by registering a intraday volatility of over 235 points (3492-3256), recovered smartly to close at 3416.73,netting a minimum loss of 1.16 points against the previous close of 3417.89 points.

According to leading BSE brokers, the market reported an handsome recovery after registering a major fall in the index during the last one hour only because of hectic buying support by bear operators and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) in the index-based scrips.

The BSE Sensex touched the day's low of 3256.51 around 1430 hours IST, and the market then pulled up by them by adding 160 points to close at the level of 3417, market sources said.

The FIIs, who were sellers initially, turned buyers at the fag end of session.

According to market sources, the bear operators entered the market and made heavy purchases today following the decision of the United Nations Security Council five permanent members to hold back the threats of sanctions India and Pakistan in their meeting on last Saturday.

Domestic institutional investors like the Unit Trust of India, General Insurance Corporation, and Life Insurance Corporation also made considerable purchases in the fundamentally strong scrips.

With the change of market mood, the FIIs also turned to buyers at the heavy-weighted counters, traders said.

The BSE-100 index closed lower by 13.41 points to 1500.53 points, while the BSE-200 and Dollex indices finished lower by 5.90 and 1.95 points to 339.88 and 135.38 points against the previous close of 344.78 and 137.33 points respectively.

After witnessing wide fluctuations prime scrips like ACC closed sharply lower by Rs 42.50 to Rs 1475, Bajaj Auto dropped by Rs 7.75 to Rs 553.25, Hind Lever down by Rs Rs 11.25 to Rs 1538.75, L and T down by Rs 2.78 to Rs 242.82, Reliance closed marginally lower by 0.10 paise to Rs 198, Tisco declined by Re 1 to Rs 146.80, Telco down by Rs 4.50 to Rs 203. ITC, however, recovered by Rs 5.25 to Rs 643.25 against Friday's close.

The total turnover on the BSE reported during the day was Rs 13.71 billion. ITC registered highest business volume of Rs 4.1 billion, followed by Reliance Rs 1 billion, State Bank of India Rs 877.3 million , BPL Rs 748 million and Satyam Computer Rs 729.9 million.

Hectic activity was also observed at the other counters led by Hind Lever (Rs 634.1 million), ACC (Rs 545 million), Zee Telefilm (Rs 421.1 million), Tisco (Rs 381.5 million), Tata Tea (Rs 352.4 million), Castrol (Rs 314.4 million), L and T (Rs 233.9 million), Bajaj Auto (Rs 205.5 million), Infosys Tech (Rs 173..1 million) and Telco (Rs 167.9 million).

UNI