J & K Butchery Gores Techs

The Bombay Stock Exchange sensex slipped below the 3,300-level on Monday in cautious trade as investors waited for the government's reaction to the latest carnage in Kashmir, which has spurred fears of renewed tension in the region.

The sensex ended with a modest loss of 27.12 points at 3,278.31, off from an intra-day low of 3,258.72.

On the National Stock Exchange, the S&P CNX Nifty index lost 10.25 points to end at 1,048.00. Overall, losers outnumbered gainers.

Technology stocks led the day's fall amid fears that heightened tensions between India and Pakistan could delay the lifting of travel restrictions to the country which could, in turn, hurt local infotech firms.

Further, more companies getting into the disclosure problem and the delay in monsoon also affected sentiments.

Infotech major Infosys Technologies slipped 2.18 per cent to Rs 3,248.25 on fund-based selling, while Satyam Computer settled down 1.37 per cent at Rs 238.45 on selling pressure.

Other frontline stocks such as NIIT (down 3.85 per cent to Rs 235.45), Polaris Soft (down 2.42 per cent to Rs 238.40), Hughes Soft (down 2.29 per cent to Rs 202.35), Mascot Systems (down 1.99 per cent to Rs 216.85), Wipro (down 1.73 per cent to Rs 1,281), Digital GlobalSoft (down 1.64 per cent to Rs 655.05) and i-flex Solutions (down 1.38 per cent to Rs 507.45) finished subdued on selling pressure.

Media major Zee Telefilms continued to slip. The stock settled down 5.34 per cent to Rs 117 on sustained selling pressure. The stock has dropped close to 25 per cent from a recent high of Rs 154.75 (face value Re 1) touched on June 11 to current levels.

Most old-economy companies, which had rallied in the run-up to the quarterly results, fell on profit-booking. Tata Steel (down 4.35 per cent to Rs 137.30) receded on reports that the US may impose anti-dumping duties on imports of Indian steel.

Elsewhere, key auto stocks such as Tata Engineering (down 3.49 per cent to Rs 150.55), Hero Honda Motors (down 2.26 per cent to Rs 320.50) and Bajaj Auto (down 1.17 per cent to Rs 526.25) settled lower on selling pressure.

However, defensive buying continued in pharma stocks. GlaxoSmithKline (up 1.25 per cent to Rs 371.60), Ranbaxy Labs (up 0.90 per cent to Rs 925.50) and ITC (up 0.61 per cent to Rs 700.20) gained. Reliance Petroleum (up 0.21 per cent to Rs 23.85) and Reliance Industries (up 0.13 per cent to Rs 265.95) ended with marginal gains on selective buying.