Bank, infotech scrips hammered

STOCKS REPORT

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex fell 2.18 per cent (120.75 points) to 5414.94 with tech and banking stocks witnessing maximum selling pressure yesterday.

The IT sector index declined 2.60 per cent to 1728.51 and the Bankex lost 2.47 per cent to close at 2770.59.

The negative sentiment was prevalent in the market with losers outpacing gainers 1151:564 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The Sensex is now down 13.36 per cent from the high of 6,249.60 points recorded in early January.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty fell 33.20 points to 1,716.65.

The markets opened steady but eventually lost ground and traded in the red for most part. Massive selling pressure in blue-chip counters at the fag end of the trading session led to the fall.

A dealer from a local brokerage said, "The forthcoming general election is are playing on the minds of investors, with most players likely to take a wait-and-watch approach before making a long-term call on the market."

Market participants attributed the lack of buying interest and churning of portfolios by institutional investors as the reasons for the weakness in the markets. Cash market turnovers on the BSE was Rs 2,253.78 crore and on the NSE, it was Rs 4,418.44 crore.

Heavyweights Reliance Industries was down 4 per cent to Rs 518.10, State Bank of India fell 3.51 per cent to Rs 559.15 and ITC was down 1.55 per cent to Rs 1,081.25.

Tata Motors fell 3.57 per cent to Rs 450.70, Bajaj Auto was down 3.20 per cent to Rs 827.45 and Hero Honda Motor down 3.10 per cent to Rs 452.30.

In pharma sector, while Cipla fell 5.63 per cent to Rs 1,128.75, Dr Reddy's Labs was up 1.17 per cent to Rs 1,000.60.

ONGC (up 0.77 per cent to Rs 859.60), Hindustan Lever (up 0.56 per cent to Rs 144.80) and HDFC (up 1.72 per cent to Rs 601.05) managed to buck the negative sentiment.

HPCL was down 4.60 per cent to Rs 470.10, MTNL fell 1.75 per cent to Rs 134.90 and Bhel was down 1.20 per cent to Rs 558.40.

Wipro fell 3 per cent to Rs 1,425.35 and Satyam Computer lost 3 per cent to Rs 1,425.35. Tech bellwether Infosys Technologies was down 2.14 per cent to Rs 4,916. Zee Telefilms fell 4.60 per cent to Rs 115.25.