Relentless selling across the board kept bearish sentiments alive in the equities market and the BSE Sensex ended 33.45 points lower at 3180.99. For the fourth straight day, the market ended on a negative note. The NSE Nifty lost 11.19 points to end at 1044.20.
The overnight weakness in the US markets led to the domestic IT stocks being affected, and selling in these stocks depressed the market. The uncertainty surrounding the health of Dhirubhai Ambani lent a general gloom to old economy scrips where lack of buying led to their fall.
Market players said lack of support from foreign institutional investors - who have been continuous sellers for the last two months - was not helping the market sentiment and retail investors were offloading in panic.
Infosys Technologies was down 3.95 per cent at Rs 3,065.75, while Satyam Computer was down 0.72 per cent to Rs 222.10. Domestic IT stocks usually take their cue from the Nasdaq, and the downtrend in the Nasdaq futures led to selling pressure in the tech stocks here. The reason was the disclosure of accounting malpractices by WorldCom