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Pivotals decline, push Nifty down 20.45 points

After a firm start, pivotals declined sharply on the National Stock Exchange today following heavy bull liquidation by operators and institutional investors.

Reflecting the weak spell, the S&P CNX Nifty index opened at 961.70 points, touched the day's high of 967.85 points, dipped to a low of 932.25 points, and closed at 934.30 points, registering a net loss of 20.45 points. Yesterday the Nifty had closed at 954.75 points.

The CNX Nifty Junior also ended lower by 31.75 points at 1627.70 points -- its previous closing was 1659.45 -- while the CNX Defty closed lower by 16.60 points at 761.85 points, against the previous 778.45 points.

The S&P CNX-500 and CNX Midcap-200 eased by 13.32 and 9.76 points to 651.37 and 574.87 points as against the previous closing figures of 664.69 and 584.63 points, respectively.

According to a release from the NSE, 294 scrips advanced, 672 declined, and 91 remained unchanged on the exchange while 48 securities hit their price bands.

The total turnover on the exchange stood at Rs26,015.3 million from 80.484 million shares in 261,366 trades. The value of debentures traded was Rs485.1 million.

Satyam Computer posted the highest turnover of Rs6191.5 million, followed by ITC (Rs3982.1 million), Pentafour Software (Rs3720 million), TELCO (Rs2069 million), Tata Tea (Rs1259.8 million) and Reliance (Rs1058.2 million).

Other actively traded counters were Zee Telefilms (Rs883.9 million), State Bank of India (Rs852.3 million), Castrol (Rs795.5 million), HCL-HP (Rs641.1 million), TISCO (Rs303.9 million), Infosys Technologies (Rs265 million), ACC (Rs225.5 million), Silverline (Rs206 million), SquareD Software (Rs195.2 million), MTNL (Rs191.2 million), NIIT (Rs165.9 million), Glaxo (Rs159.3 million), L&T (Rs149 million), Dr Reddy (Rs137.1 million), Bajaj Auto (Rs134.5 million), Dabur (Rs118.1 million), Hindustan Lever (Rs98.6 million), Wockhardt (Rs89 million) and Digital Equipment (Rs84.5 million).

The top gainers were Castrol Rs785 (770.90), Gujarat Ambuja Cement Rs251.60 (248), TVS Suzuki Rs536 (531.05) and Cipla Rs938.00 (929.95).

The losers were Hindalco Rs512.50 (557.05), Hero Honda Rs557 (595), HDFC Bank Rs61.55 (65.90), Tata Chemicals Rs96.75 (103) and Tata Power Rs93 (99).

According to provisional figures, foreign institutional investors made a net investment of Rs61.8 million while the Indian financial institutions' net selling stood at Rs70.7 million today.

The wholesale debt market of the NSE witnessed trades worth Rs5,319 million. The 11.40 per cent government loan maturing in 2000 was traded for Rs2250 million at a weighted yield of 11.36 per cent. The 11.55 per cent government loan maturing in 2001 was traded for Rs900 million at a weighted yield of 11.53 per cent. The 14 per cent taxable bonds of the National Capital Region Planning Board maturing in 2005 were traded for Rs100 million at a yield of 13.66 per cent. Two repo trades amounting to Rs750 million were transacted at a rate of 15 per cent for a term of 14 days.

UNI

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