MUMBAI, May 7: Pivotal prices declined moderately on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Wednesday following speculative selling pressure coupled with lack of buying support from institutional investors.

The BSE sensitive index opened at 3785.83, higher from the previous close of 3781.49, touched the day's high of 3790.69. The Sensex fell sharply to touch the day's low of 3751.93 and closed at 3753.50, showing a net loss of 27.99 points over the previous close.

Similarly, the BSE-100 index drifted lower by 12.32 points to 1612.15 against the previous close of 1624.47. The BSE-200 and Dollex indices closed lower by 1.09 and 0.69 points to 361.94 and 167.95 against the previous close of 363.03 and 168.64 points respectively.

According to market sources, the poor performance recorded by Century Textiles and Industries as well as Birla group of companies have dampened the market sentiments at the country's premier bourse.

Century chairman B K Birla in a statement to the press said that adverse conditions in three industries, cement, paper and shipping affected their performance.

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and domestic institutional investors did not participate actively in the trading, said a leading BSE broker.

The BSE will remain closed on Thursday on account of `Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti'. The market will reopen on Friday, the last day of current trading cycle.

Pivotals decline

The National Stock Exchange index opened higher at 1053.10 and touched a peak level of 1055.05 but dropped to a low of 1042.55 and closed at 1044.40 with a loss of 4.00 from the previous close of 1048.40. The Midcap opened at 1091.65 gained to a high of 1106.85 but closed at 1105.10 showing a gain of 17.05 from the previous close of 1088.05.

The total turnover was Rs 1093.91 crore from 488 lakh shares in trades of 1,25,297.

The top 25 traded scrips were SBI (Rs 389.07 crs), ITc (Rs 186.01 cr), Reliance (Rs 148.96 cr), Tisco (Rs 117.89 cr), ACC (Rs 45.16 cr), BHEL (Rs 29.78 cr), Bank of India (Rs 23.23 cr), BSES (Rs 11.33 cr), L & T (Rs 10.52 cr), Telco (Rs 9.42 cr) Hind Lever (Rs 8.66 cr), Bata (Rs 6.56 cr), Hind Petro (Rs 6.55 cr), Cochin Refinery (Rs 5.76 cr), MTNL (Rs 4.20 cr), Glaxo (Rs 3.55 cr), Bajaj Auto (Rs 3.25 cr), Indian Rayon (Rs 3.15 cr), ICICI (Rs 3.12 cr), Thomas Cook (Rs 2.85 cr), BoB Rs 6 pd up (Rs 2.65 cr), OBC (Rs 2.61 cr), Gas Authority (Rs 2.48 cr) and Guj Ambuja (Rs 2.22 cr).

The top five gainers were ICICI Ltd., Tata Iron and Steel, Indogulf Fert, Reliance Petro and Dr Reddy's Lab. The top five losers were Indian Rayon, BSES Ltd., Cochin Refi, Ranbaxy Lab and Mahindra & Mahindra.

Scrips slide on DSE

NEW DELHI: A rise in share prices was short-lived on the stock market on Wednesday following revival of increased selling by financial houses and market players and closed with noteable to small losses spread over a wide front.

In the wake of all round selling, the general investor and bull preferred to play safe and abstained from the market, marketmen said.

They said the Bihar Chief Minister, Laloo Prasad Yadav's reported threat to leave the United Front dampened the market sentiment.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and speculators selling at select counters also brought some nervousness on the trading sentiment.

Along with the market move, the Delhi Stock Exchange (DSE) senstive index fell back by 9.61 points to close lower at 769.11 points.

Opening on a weak note, share prices continued to lean down on persistent selling by profit takers and speculators and settled lower. In some cases, the closing was lower with hefty margin.

Sluggish trading

CALCUTTA: Lack of worthwile buying support, coupled with little selling pressure, marked a dull trading day at Calcutta Stock Exchange on Wednesday. As a result, equity prices touched ground level and the CSE-50 index dropped to close at 104.90.

The market opened with a better note resulting in a rise in the index which soared to 105.56 points but failed to hold the same due to selling presure allround. The turnover remained sluggish and the undertone quiet. ACC, the trend setter, opened with gain at Rs 1364 but settled lower at Rs 1315 in absence of interested demand.

Among other counters, Reliance lost ground to close at Rs 299.80 with Tisco at Rs 177.40, Hind Lever at Rs 1046, SBI New at Rs 304.80, ITC at Rs 406 and Telco at Rs 372.50 due to selling pressure.

But Grasim Industries closed at Rs 358, Bata at Rs 95, CESC at Rs 44.20 and Hindalco at Rs 887 gained slightly.

In the non-specified list BSES finished the day with Rs 231.50 while Colgate closed at Rs 300, ITC Classic at Rs 28 Essar Shipping at Rs 14.40 and Nagarjuna Fertiliser held at Rs 15.40.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.