Date:23/09/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/23/stories/2006092306621700.htm

Business

Sensex snaps two-day bull charge

MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Friday declined marginally by 37.49 points to close at 12236.78 on profit taking. Positive factors such as aggressive buying by foreign funds and fall in inflation rate failed to boost sentiment as market players were busy taking profit, brokers said. A general week-end fatigue was seen in the market as bulls took a respite after two days of smart gains when the BSE index garnered nearly 304 points, they added.

A fall in index-based shares such as SBI, ONGC, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Maruti, TCS, Infosys Technologies, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, L&T, Dr. Reddy's, ITC, and HLL, weighed negatively on the market while smart rally in RIL, Grasim, ACC, Bajaj Auto and Bharti Airtel cushioned the Sensex fall to some extent.

The BSE-30 share sensitive index opened low at 12244.41 against Thursday's close of 12274.27 and moved in a range of 12303.42 and 12170.20 before closing at 12236.78.

On the National Stock Exchange, the S&P CNX Nifty declined by nine points to 3544.05.

On the Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite Index dipped by 79.96 points and 15.14 points, respectively on Thursday. Most Asian markets also ended in the red on weekend profit-selling.

Foreign institutional investors reportedly bought shares worth Rs. 1,007.70 crore on the first three days of the week. — PTI