Date:09/10/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/09/stories/2007100962871800.htm

Business

Bourses succumb to fears of snap poll

MUMBAI: After moving to just a stone’s throw from a new milestone, the stock markets on Monday succumbed to fears of a political crisis and shed 282 points in volatile trade, extending losses to the third straight day. Initially, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) barometer Sensex hit an all-time intra-trade high of 17982.59 on the back of strong global cues and expectations of fresh FII (foreign institutional investment) inflows.

The Sensex later tumbled by 660.45 points from the day’s high and touched a low of 17322.14, before closing at 17491.39, a net fall of 281.97 points or 1.59 per cent from Friday’s close of 17773.36.

Similarly, the broad-based S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange dipped by 100.75 points to close at 5085.10 from the previous close of 5185.85. Investors heavily unloaded positions, reacting negatively to serious differences between the Left parties and the Congress after the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi defended the Indo-US nuclear deal on Sunday. The partial recovery from the day’s low was attributed to short covering at lower levels by some operators. — PTI