Sensex sheds 20 points

MUMBAI, Jan 6: Pivotals reacted further on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today on selling pressure coupled with lack of institutional support. Resuming subdued, share prices declined further and Sensex dropped below 3700-mark during the mid-session. A few scrips, however, recovered slightly at the end on fresh buying by the domestic financial institutions. The volume of business continued to be below normal.

The BSE sensitive index dropped from the inter-day high of 3727.24 to 3684.02 but recovered partially to finish at 3719.62 with a net loss of 19.59 points compared to the previous of 3739.21. The BSE-100 index lost 8.18 points to 1619.21 from the previous level of 1627.39. Brokers said that the sentiment was affected mainly due to profit taking in view of today being the last session for the current settlement on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Specualtors were upset over the rumours of SEBI intending to introduce uniform settlement at all stock exchanges.

ITC recovered from the low of Rs 607.75 to close at Rs 619. Reliance also rallied from a low of Rs 168.75 to close at Rs 171.50. The total turnover amounted Rs 900.19 crore.

On the NSE, share prices declined on fresh offerings as operators were squaring up their positions. The NSE-50 index resumed weak at 1091.25 and closed at 1079.15, showing a steep fall of 12.50. The dollar NSE-50 (Defty) index also opened subdued at 956.00 and ended at 948.40, revealing a fall of 11.45. The Midcap index commenced at 1228.05 and settled at 1216.80, showing a fall of 11.70. The market displayed a total turnover of Rs 1,280.29 crore.