Markets nervous but not panic

8220;The downgrade impacted sentiment,8221; said Ashish Goyal of Prudential Asset Management, adding that falls were limited because the market had already reckoned with the issues raised by S038;P.

After touching a low of 2,993.78 in opening trades, Sensex settled at 3,024.35, down 15.95 points from its previous close. The NSE S038;P CNX Nifty Index shed 6.44 points to close at 969.60.

PSU stocks, especially those of fertiliser and refinery firms, attracted buying support on market buzz that Prime Minister A B Vajpayee has called a meeting to put the privatisation programme back on track.

8220;The market is hoping the downgrade will eventually turn out to be a blessing as the government may take tough steps to address the fiscal situation,8221; said Prashant Jain, the chief investment officer at Zurich India Asset Management.