According to figures collated by NSE, FIIs were net buyers at Rs 8.86 crore with domestic institutions at Rs 6.54 crore. On the BSE, FIIs were buyers at Rs 36 crore and sellers at Rs 33 crore, making them net buyers at Rs 3 crore. On the BSE, the FIs were buyers at Rs 46 crore and sellers at Rs 34 crore making them net buyers at Rs 12 crore.

"Tuesday being the last day of the setlement at NSE and the fact that the next two days are holidays at BSE did not see the customary shifting of positions from one exchange to another. The spate of holidays ahead has led to players not taking fresh positions. With no good tidings coming from the government there is a gloomy picture all around and this triggered off the heavy bouts of selling,"a BSE broker said.

The Sensex opened at 2,845.86, the day's high, and touched the day's low of 2,753.34 before closing the day down 89.11 points at 2,764.16.

"Overall the economy is in a very bad shape with business down by almost 30 per cent across the board. Yet, Tuesday's slide came as a surprise, inspite the Federal Bank cutting rates and the Asian markets buoyant. The country's bourses have gone in a diametrically opposite direction," Shailesh Merchant Brokers vice-president Dilip Bhat said.

"The general sentiment is wary with the Tata group shares quoting at all time lows. Blue chips like Reliance and ICICI too are at their lows. There is a complete absence of buyers from the markets leading to a sustained selling effort," Bhat said.

"Domestic institutions, who normally buy in such situations had a very nominal presence which made matters worse," BSE broker Ajai Doshi said.

"The Sensex has penetrated the baseline of the triangle and has remained there for the past three weeks. If this trendcontinues for a week more then it is possible that the Sensex will find the next support level at 2,609 levels. But, initially the Sensex will test the level of 2,700," Pranav Securities manager (institutional sales) Parag Dalvi said.

"If UTI increases the repurchase price of US-64 next month then clearly there will be repurchase pressure on the trust and with very less sales in US-64, trouble will shoot up again. This will lead to further pressure on the markets," Dalal & Broacha's Milind Karmarkar said.

According to marketmen, FIIs offloaded substantial quantity in scrips like Reliance, Telco, Tisco, Satyam Computers and ACC. Credit Lyonnaise is rumoured to have sold huge chunks of HDFC Bank shares on behalf of Morgan Stanley. The Canbank offshore fund is reported to have bought 1.5 lakh shares of Telco. UTI is reported to have bought MTNL, Smithkline Pharma and Satyam Computers shares. SBI and Credit Lyonnaise bought Zee Telefilms shares, while the Canbank Offshore fund is reported to have soldHCL-Infosys shares.

"Telco touched a low of Rs 98 on BSE. The downtrend in Telco is due to the market factoring the likely poor performance of the commercial vehicles major during the first quarter of the financial year 1998-99," Doshi said.

The Reliance scrip, which ruled at the Rs 107 on the Moorat trading, fell to Rs 99 below the crucial Rs 100 mark on Tuesday before closing at Rs 101.90 on BSE and Rs 101.30 on NSE. "Reliance is basically in the global commodities business. Due to global recession and glut in the commodity trade the company's fortunes are under doubt. Due to large volumes the profits won't take a beating. However, the market recognises these fundamental factors that may affect the company's fortunes in the future", a dealer at foreign brokerage house said.

Kerb perks up

Figures revealed by the stock exchanges indicating that institutions were net buyers on Tuesday warmed up the sentiment on the kerb with pivotals trading at upper levels. Reliance was up by Rs 0.60, ITC wasup by Rs 3 to Rs 4, SBI was up by Rs 1.50, Zee Telefilms was up by Rs 2.75 to Rs 5.25 and Satyam Computers rose Re 0.25 to Rs 1.25.