Two-day rally snaps, Sensex dips 113 pts

Sensex opened weak at 4761.90 and later moved irregularly in a range of 4799.26 and 4637.03 before closing at 4679.63 with a net loss 113.32 points compared the previous level of 4792.95. The BSE-100 index too tumbled by 87.36 points to 2444.05 from the previous close of 2531.41.

Brokers said after the overnight sharp recovery of 259 points, share prices attracted fresh unloading following selling pressure by foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and local investors. The sentiment was also affected by the hasty retreat in prices on Nasdaq of the US. Operators had been extremely cautious for the sole reason that the prices have failed to sustain higher levels in spite of strong market fundamentals.

Reliance was the most active scrip with a turnover of Rs 644.77 crore of the total volume of business of Rs 3183.54 crore. However, Reliance witnessed see-saw movements and finally dropped by Rs 15.70 to Rs 345 on profit-taking. Satyam Computer lost Rs 61.85 at Rs 3190, Zee Telefilms Rs 57.50 at Rs 711, Aptech Ltd by Rs 157.50 at Rs 1857.50, Dr Reddy Rs 88 at Rs 1302, Glaxo Rs 18.50 at Rs 387, Grasim Rs 23.55 at Rs 342.50, G A Cements Rs 6.25 at Rs 199.75 and HLL Rs 15.50 at Rs 2475.55.

However, Infosys Tech edged up by Rs 88.40 to Rs 7967.50, ITC Rs 10.60 to Rs 566.75 and BSES Rs 4.55 to Rs 260.50. BHEL and Castrol also gained ground.

"US markets don’t know what to do — they are down one day and up the next so there’s no direction," said an analyst with Worldsec Securities, adding that Indian markets are also showing a similar trend. Wariness still abounds in Asian markets following the Nasdaq’s sharp dive on April 14 in the wake of economic figures showing inflation could be on the rise.

Thursday’s focus was on first quarter US Employment cost index and gross domestic product figures due out later in the day. Robust numbers are expected to prompt the US Federal Reserve to aggressively tighten interest rates. "The outlook for the next few days depends upon how US markets behave after the release of key economic data on Thursday," said G Devanathan, director of Kaycee Trading and Portfolio Services.