Weak Sentiment Prevails As Sensex Plunges
The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex fell below the psychological 3200-mark yesterday. After opening on an optimistic note, the index lost 31.03 points at the close. Brokers said the lacklustre sentiment seen in the last few weeks continued to have a bearing on the market. The volume of business was low and the State Bank of India was the only scrip which saw any real FII activity, a broker said.
Marketmen say there was a lot of activity, both from local operators and also from FIIs in the SBI stock, since the pricing of the bank's GDR issue was scheduled for late yesterday evening.
A BSE broker said though some Indian institutions, mainly LIC, have been making selective purchases in recent weeks, the buying support, however, is little to arrest the downslide in the indices or to improve trading sentiments.
What is needed is some persistent buying support and not some sporadic buying activities by domestic institutions, said a fund manager from a prominent asset management company.
The political uncertainty at the Centre has brought in a bleak sentiment and it is the bear operators who are making a killing, he added.
The BSE Sensex closed at 3195.77, losing 31.03 points over the previous day's close of 3226.80. During intra-day trade, it had opened at 3229.79, touched a high of 3254.57, before sliding down to a low of 3190.36.
A top marketman said the index could shed a further 200 points before buying support comes in. The trading was restricted among the punters and FIIs were largely absent, except for a few stocks like SBI, East India Hotels etc.
Trading was done in 2.58 crore shares worth Rs 425.54 crore (thanks mainly to SBI, which contributed nearly 50 per cent of the bourse's turnover). The top three scrips on the