Sensex slides further on distress selling

MUMBAI, MAY 12. The benchmark index Sensex tumbled down by another 144 points to close at 4107.14 on the Bombay Stock Exchange today following persistent heavy offerings by foreign funds and distress sales by local operators, despite the overnight smart recovery at Nasdaq.

Bears tightened their grip on the market and refused to give any leeway to the bulls with renewed waves of sale offers continuing to take centre-stage.

Nothwithstanding the impressive rally in the Nasdaq composite index and the Dow Jones industrial average by 114.85 and 178.19 points respectively on Thursday, operators were reluctant to enter into fresh commitments ahead of an anticipated U.S. interest rate hike next Tuesday.

Dealers said continued heavy sell-off by foreign institutional investors for the last three days forced operators to unwind their long positions on the last day of the current settlement on the BSE leading to a virtual collapse in share values.

The steep fall in the Sensex could be gauged by a sharp to moderate decline in 27, out of 30, index-based shares.

The bellwether index opened marginally lower at 4243.54 and briefly touched the day's high of 4267.87 during early trading. Later, it moved in the negative territory throughout the day and dropped to a low of 4102.77 before closing at 4107.14 against yesterday's close of 4251.36, recording a decline of 144.22 points or 3.39 per cent.

- PTI

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Section  : Business
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