Bank indices face the heat

STOCK REPORT

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-share sensitive index Sensex continued to fall on the third consecutive day.

The fall, triggered by heavy selling by foreign institutional investors, pulled the key indices 1 per cent down. Sensex closed at 11237.23, down 118.50 points or 1 per cent, after swaying between 11380.83 and 11008.43.

Nifty ended down 34.50 points or 1 per cent at 3345.50. It moved between 3391.05 and 3290.35.

The laggards on Nifty included Videsh Sanchar Nigam, Cipla, ABB, and National Aluminium Company, which were down 5-6 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, CNX Bank Index was the worst hit with 2.3 per cent fall. The biggest losers included ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, and Punjab National Bank, down 2-3 per cent. BSE Bankex was also down by 120.09 per cent to 5,107.51.

CNX IT Index ended down 0.9 per cent at 4140.45 after touching a low of 4103.90 earlier in the session. Dealers attributed trimming of losses in technology shares to Infosys Technologies' earnings Friday. The company will also mull bonus share issue on Friday.

CNX Mid-cap Index ended down 2.2 or 109.50 points at 4763.70. Hinduja TMT, Gujarat NRE Coke, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, and Madras Cements, were major mid-cap losers, down 6-8 per cent.

Foreign funds were net sellers in derivatives segment for the fourth straight session on Wednesday, to the tune of Rs 2091 crore, while they sold shares, for second session in a row, worth Rs 422 crore.

"Sharp fall amid volatility was due to concerns over strong selling by foreign funds in past few sessions," said Vipul Sharma, senior dealer, Darashaw Securities.

Total turnover on both exchanges combined was Rs 17324 crore, compared with Rs 16300 crore on Wednesday.