Reforms concerns hammer PSU scrips

DALAL STREET SPIKES

PSU stocks fell like nine pins in yesterday's trading following huge sell-off after the exit polls indicated a strong gain for opposition at the end of second round of voting.

Among the worthies badly hit were BPCL, HPCL, Madras Fertiliser, RCF, Shipping Corporation and Engineers India. The BSE PSU index after opening with a negative gap of 56.3 points, crashed 215 points to finally close at 4,115.73 on sustained selling in state-run companies.

The BSE PSU index moved in the range of 4,108-4,274.94. Market analysts said, the fear of disinvestment process hitting a road block if the NDA government fails to come to power resulted in investors offloading their position in these counters.

BPCL was down 7.11 per cent to Rs 470.90, HPCL was down 6.79 per cent to close at Rs 477.35, while RCF was down 9.53 per cent to Rs 44.50, Shipping Corporation was down 9.36 per cent to Rs 132.70.