Sensex falls 115 pts, Infosys, Reliance down

Sensex falls 115 pts, Infosys, Reliance down
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU

MUMBAI, APRIL 12: Shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) snapped a five-day rally and fell weighed by overnight losses on the Nasdaq. Leading losers were software major Infosys Technologies and petrochemicals giant Reliance Industries. The benchmark Sensex crashed 2.07 per cent, or 115 points, to 5426.82.

Infosys ended 5.25 per cent lower at Rs 10,067.60, tracking overnight losses at the Nasdaq exchange where its American Depository Receipts (ADR) lost 5.37 per cent. The ADRs were swept in the selling wave at the Nasdaq where the composite index fell 3.16 per cent to 4,055.90 on Tuesday. Reliance Industries dropped 6.02 per cent to Rs 334 as some dealers scaled down expectations of a premium price for share buyback being considered by the company later on Wednesday.

The BSE Sensitive Index (Sensex) opened weak at 5502.42 and moved erratically in a range of 5542.81 and 5416.19 before closing at 5426.82 with a sizeable loss of 114.72 points against the yesterday's close of 5541.54. The BSE-100 index nosedived by 78.97 points to 2965.80 from the previous close of 3044.77. The National Stock Exchange Nifty index was 2.15 per cent or 34.95 points lower at 1,589.70.

Brokers said the overall trading sentiment was listless with very little institutional participation on a bank holiday. Preliminary data from the Bombay Stock Exchange showed 927 issues declined, 553 advanced and 129 unchanged.

Notable index-based gainers were information technology firms Satyam Computer Services up 5.24 per cent at Rs 4,441, NIIT eight per cent at Rs 2,006.55 and media firm Zee Telefilms up 2.9 per cent at Rs 1,063.75. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) which had been net buyers since March 31, were reportedly absent while domestic institutions booked profits at higher levels. Among old economy shares, Mahindra & Mahindra and Hindustan Lever lost ground.

ASIAN MARKETS FIRM:Some key Asian markets kept their poise on Wednesday despite another session of losses on the US Nasdaq, which sparked further switching from technology shares to traditional industry. Tokyo stocks bounded to 40-month highs as lagging industries like real estate attracted interest amid brighter prospects for the economy.

Hong Kong stocks erased early losses to end Wednesday higher, led by Cable & Wireless HKT, as investors cheered news of an alliance between Australia's Telstra Corp and Pacific Century Cyber Works. The benchmark Hang Seng index ended up 0.54 per cent or 89.43 points at 16,577.09, after falling as low as 16,267.72 on the back of the Nasdaq's second day of losses.

Mark Konyn, director at Dresdner RCM Global Investors in Hong Kong, said technology, media and telecom (TMT) stocks were likely to remain volatile in the second quarter though investors were becoming more discerning.