Sensex sheds 33 points

MUMBAI, May 26: The BSE Sensitive Index (Sensex) fell by 33.05 points on Tuesday as pivotals suffered a moderate setback on Tuesday following speculative selling pressure by institutional investors and absence of foreign institutional investors (FIIs) in view of the falling rupee. According to marketmen, the last day of the current trading settlement on the NSE also aided the downtrend as operators were busy in squaring up their positions on the NSE.

Reflecting the bearish phase, Sensex opened at 3906.74 points, touched the day’s high of 3915.42 points to fall sharply below the 3900-mark by touching day’s low of 3870.76. It finally ended at 3875.06, as compared to the previous close of 3908.11 points. BSE-100 index declined by 12.85 points to 1722.24 points.

Market sources said steel shares reacted sharply on the reported information of steel sector’s negative performance, similar activity was noticed on the power counters, they said. Brokers said the fall in the rupee value against the US dollar forcedthe FIIs to adopt a `wait and watch’ approach.

On the NSE too equities declined sharply following speculative selling pressure, at the last day of current trading cycle. The NSE-50 (Nifty) index fell by 18.50 points to 1104.45 points as against the previous close of 1122.95 points. The Dollar NSE-50 (Defty) opened at 946.25 and closed 930.30, showing a fall of 19.85 points. The Midcap opened at 1652.75 and closed 1632.10, showing a sharp loss of 21.55 points. The total turnover was Rs 1,637.50 crore.