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Sensex staggers before Reliance gives it a hand

Our Bureau

MUMBAI, March 30

SHARE prices on the BSE and NSE opened on a weak note in the wake of the Nasdaq Composite Index reflecting a sharp drop on Wednesday.

The Sensex plummeted by around 200 points intra-day as the capital market was rocked by tremors fed by overseas apprehension regarding the overvalued tech stocks worldwide.

It recovered from the lower levels on sustained buying in the Reliance counter. Reliance which hogged the limelight on Thursday on the two bourses registered huge volumes on investment buying. The scrip which ended the day at Rs. 291.25 on the BSE and Rs . 293 on the NSE registered a combined turnover of Rs. 3 crore.

Market participants maintain that software stocks retreated on concern at the possibility of a slowdown in the earnings. ``The market is likely to weaken further as there are no positive triggers waiting around the corner. Although the valuations of the Indian stocks may not be related with the valuations of the US stocks, the sentiments are,'' a broker said.

Selling pressure was also witnessed in cyclicals and other industrial stocks.

The Sensex opened at 4984.10, hit a high of 5058.44 only to slip down to 4891.40 before ending the day at 5041.08, indicating a net loss of 61.38 points.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 1556.95, hit a high of 1557.85, hit a low of 1326.21 only to close at 1549.50, losing 8.75 points over its previous close of 1558.25.

Analysts maintain the market was also propped in the latter half of the trading session on account of March 31 being a crucial day for funds.