Bear Hammering Pulls Down Sensex 148 Pts

Consistent bear hammering on ICE heavy-weights like Infosys, Zee Telefilms, Satyam Computer, Larsen & Toubro dragged the Bombay Stock Exchange sensitive index by 148.47 points to a 12-month low of 3,920.18.

L&T was the worst hit, closing 12 per cent lower to a new 52-week low of Rs 183.95.

Infosys Technologies breached the 8 per cent level to close 9 per cent lower at Rs 5,864. Satyam Computer, ACC, Zee Telefilms were the other stocks closing more than 8 per cent lower. ACC also closed at a new yearly low of Rs 96.80.

Wipro was another heavy- weight tumbling 12 per cent lower at Rs 1,761.

 

The Business Standard ICE Index was down by 8.75 points to close the day at 148.54 points as Most prominent Infotech stocks hit the lower end of the circuit-filters.

Among the major losers were Wipro, SSI, Infosys, Satyam Computers, Himachal Futuristic, Global Telesystems, Pentamedia Graphics and Zee Telefilms.

The S&P CNX Nifty also ended the day with a loss of 35 points to close at 1,233. Yesterday's fall in the sensex led to a sharp erosion of more than Rs 26,000 crore in market capitalisation now standing at Rs 6,02,909 crore.

Momentum players and traders continued to abstain from the markets as most Asian markets like Japan's Nikkei, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Singapore's Singtel ended the day lower between 1 and 3 per cent.

The sharp fall of 148 points at the Nasdaq on Friday and lack of aggressive buying on the domestic bourses were reportedly the main reason for the slide at the sensex.