Sensex down by 36 pts

The proposal in the railway budget to mop up Rs 450 crore was welcomed by the marketmen who felt the burden was not very harsh and indicated that the budget on Monday would be favourable. Brisk activity in steel shares, particularly Tisco, was attributed to restrictions on imported steel that are likely in thebudget.

The scrip spurted by Rs 13.60 to Rs 150.10 . On the National Stock Exchange NSE, pivotals opened on a distinctly weak note, recovered partially later, and ended lower. The NSE-50 index, opened steady, touched a low at 1037.95 and high at 1077.15, finally declining by 12.40 points to close at 1063.15 as against 1075.55 of the previous day. The Midcap index came down by 12.15 points to 1620.20 . The total turnover amounted to Rs 2,423.32 crore. Another counter which spurted by 8 per cent on the back of confusion over the dividend payout was SAIL.