Sensex falls 80 pts intra-day

Though the government announced strategic sale of oil major HPCL and a public offer in the case of BPCL, stocks reacted sharply and closed w...

Though the government announced strategic sale of oil major HPCL and a public offer in the case of BPCL, stocks reacted sharply and closed with a marked fall pushing the Sensex down by nearly 37 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Sensex fell by as much as 80 points from the intra-day high level on late selling pressure.

Domestic funds led by life insurance corporation (LIC) which have been consistent buyers in the past several days, booked profits at higher levels in the light of a slowdown in foreign fund inflows, discouraging bulls to make any further commitments.

Sensex opened remarkably higher at 3320.87 and surged up to the intra-day high at 3349.36 on selective buying by foreign funds and bull operators at early stages. However, the BSE barometer met with strong resistance and dropped sharply during latter part of the session due to increased selling pressure and ended at 3269.31 as against last Friday’s close of 3306.29, netting a fall of 36.98 points or 1.12 per cent. The broad-based BSE-100 index also dipped by 27.35 points to 1605.63 from the previous close of 1632.98.

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Commenting on net sales of Rs 205 crore by foreign funds in the first four sessions last week, brokers said sales by foreign funds were on the higher side because of bulls’ strong grip on the market that gave them opportunity to book profits. Brokers termed the negative reaction in stocks as necessary correction required for the sound health of the market, saying “the downtrend is likely to continue tomorrow to a certain extent”.

The bull charge in the past few days was attributed to the government’s move to restart privatisation process in oil companies, breaking the three-month deadlock imposed by the Union Cabinet following controversy over disinvestment in the NDA. In the specified group, 150 including 20 index-based scrips registered losses while 43 others finished with gains.