Sensex falls 90 pts; over 300 stocks hit lower circuit

Hundreds of the companies,mostly from mid-cap and small-cap segments,on Friday saw their share prices hitting the all-time lows or lowest permissible limit for the day amid concerns over loans raised by their promoters with shares or convertible bonds as collaterals.

As a fall in the rupee value to below Rs 51-level versus the US dollar made the foreign borrowings costlier,the share prices were battered of the companies having heavy promoter pledges and significant exposure to loans through foreign currency convertible bonds,marketmen said.

As per the stock exchange data,share prices of as many as 137 companies hit their all-time low levels today,while a total of 343 stocks hit their lower circuit or fell to the maximum permissible limit for the day on the BSE. The BSE index,Sensex,opened lower at 16,387.70 and fell to 16,164.99 before settling at 16,371.51,down 90.20 points or 0.55 per cent from yesterday. The NSE 50-share nifty also fell 28.95 points or 0.59 per cent to close at 4,905.80.