Date:22/08/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/22/stories/2007082255301900.htm

Business

Sensex sheds 438 points

Special Correspondent

MUMBAI: With political uncertainty looming large, the Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) shed 438.44 points to close below the 14000-mark. The fall was also aided by global weakness in stock indices, including Asia’s.

The markets opened in the negative territory and witnessed sharp fall in the last few hours of trading. Asian markets opened in the green but came off the highs at close. Dow Jones also closed flat on Monday, suggesting some weak cues.

The global credit crunch and the political uncertainty, following the stand-off between the Congress Government and the Left parties on the Indo-U.S. civil nuclear deal, have created further uncertainty in the market. It was a disappointing session for the markets after a surge on Monday. The Sensex closed at 13989.11, down by 3.04 per cent against its previous close of 14427.55. It touched a low at 13941.93 in intra-day. The 50-share Nifty lost 134.15 points to close at 4074.90. The CNX Nifty Junior dropped by 297.65 points to 7,894.00 and the CNX Midcap by 217.20 points to 5519.75. The total turnover on the BSE was Rs. 4,866.64 crore as compared to Monday’s Rs. 3,877.61 crore. The BSE Midcap index was down by 3.3 per cent at 6134.23.